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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22436686">Keep running, no matter what!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixie0235/pseuds/pixie0235'>pixie0235</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Day6 (Band), SF9 (Band), Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cat/Human Hybrids, Childhood Trauma, Everybody loves Youngkyun, Everyone is a hybrid, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hwiyoung being a whole dumbass, Hybrids, I Tried, I'm Sorry, Jae and Wonpil are two halves of a whole idiot, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Multi, SF8 are freedom fighters, Slow Burn, Youngkyun has Now or Never era hair, brian is the mom friend, i don't know how to tag</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-29 01:27:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>50,996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22436686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixie0235/pseuds/pixie0235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He would just have to avoid them to the best of his abilities. Yeah! That would work! </p>
<p>'Yeah, it's not like they're all stronger and probably faster than you. And have a better sense of smell that you could ever dream off.' a treacherous voice in the back of his head whispered.</p>
<p>He was a cat for god's sake! He maybe couldn't outrun them but he could, he could...</p>
<p>Yeah... Youngkyun was fucked wasn't he?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Baek Juho | Zuho/Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung, Kang Chanhee | Chani/Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung, Kim Inseong/Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung, Kim Seokwoo | Rowoon/Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung, Kim Youngbin/Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung, Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung/Lee Jaeyoon, Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung/Lee Sanghyuk | Dawon, Kim Youngkyun | Hwiyoung/Yoo Taeyang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>103</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I Hate New People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello and welcome to my story! This is my first time posting on this site and i'm really excited about this story! and I put a little backstory about this story in the end note so everything will be a little clearer, I recommend reading that first and then reading the first chapter, as things will make more sense then. Hope you guys like it!</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>Ten years ago no hybrid would have thought that they would have their own cities or would have actual laws protecting them. It was a long and drawn out battle but the succeeded, but not without losses. The humans wouldn't concede and decided to go after all domesticated breeds, effectively killing about 80% off. </p>
<p>Mates are shifter only thing, and the come in pairs and groups. There are a few ways to recognize your mate(s).</p>
<p>Every shifter is born with a tattoo that shows how many mates one will have.<br/>The scent of their mate is irresistible the first time they smell it, they would do about anything to get to the source. (But this doens't work that well will in the cities since a lot of shifters wear scent repressors so they don't get disturbed during their day-to-day life)<br/>When touching your mate(s) you will feel sparks, especially the first time.<br/>When mate(s) make eye contact for the first time the soul bond is born and then there is no way back.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A young boy burst through the door in a flurry of movements. Which caused the two occupants in the room to look up in mild irritation, only for their eyes to soften the tiniest bit.</p><p> “What did you <em>misplace</em> this time Hwiyoung-ie.” The brunette man asked knowingly, eating a sandwich on the couch.</p><p>Youngkyun glowered, his dotted ears and tail sagging slightly as he couldn’t seem to find what he was looking for. With his tail and ears out and his bedhead, he looked rather wild.</p><p>“Shut it Jae, and don’t you dare get crumbs on the couch, <em>again</em> – now Hwiyoung, what are you looking for?” The man with the slanted eyes asked Hwiyoung kindly, while snapping at Jae.</p><p>“I’m looking for my suppressors, I used my last pack yesterday. They aren’t in my room or in any of the bathrooms. And I’m freaking out because going to school without them is literal hell on earth. Please tell me either one of you has seen them!” Hwiyoung complained as he draped himself across Jae’s lap for some cuddles and scratches. (ignoring the glare he got when he almost knocked his sandwich out of his hands.)  </p><p>“How in the holy hell did you use up <em>all</em> of your suppressors, your next batch is due to come next week.” Jae remarked exasperated as he scratched Hwiyoung behind his ears, earning him pleased purring.</p><p>“I may or may not have used more than the usual because of some new students…” Hwiyoung trailed off, his head comfortably resting on his big brothers lap.</p><p>“And who exactly <em>are </em>these new students?” Younghyun inquired, sipping his coffee while leaning forward with his arms on the kitchen counter.</p><p>“Just some new students who don’t know decent manners.” Hwiyoung sneered.</p><p>Jae chuckled slightly, not surprised in the slightest that Youngkyun didn’t like people, his little brother didn’t like a lot of people and mostly found them either annoying or too loud. He was never really one for social things.</p><p>“What did they do then?” Jae decided to indulge him. Younghyun smiling in slight amusement as he took a seat on the recliner across from them.</p><p>“They tried to attack Kim Hongjoong’s pack because one of his younger members looked ‘weirdly’ at their youngest.” Youngkyun huffed out, making air quotes when he said weird.</p><p>Younghyun choked on his coffee while Jae looked at him in stunned silence, stopping his scratching.</p><p>Youngkyun looked up in slight confusion before he realized what he said.</p><p>“It’s not as bad as it-“</p><p>“What do you mean they tried to attack another pack?! Are they a pack of savages or something?!” Younghyun exploded once he was done choking on his coffee.</p><p>“Look hyung, it’s not a big deal-“</p><p>“Not a big deal my ass! I don’t want you to go class until they expel that pack!”</p><p>“Woah Brian, calm down. Mom and dad already paid the fees, he kinda has to go to class or-“</p><p>“Hell no, I don’t want our kitten around savages. You know how much he hates them! And for the last time, <em>don’t call me Brian</em>! My name’s Younghyun!”</p><p><em>“The kitten is sitting right here and feeling very ignored…” </em>he murmured to himself, watching the back forth between Jae and Younghyun with mild interest.</p><p>“Listen here Brian! If you keep Youngkyun from his classes, mom and dad will find out and fly down here to see what’s going on. And if they find out that we kept him from going to classes because of this, they wouldn’t allow him to live with us anymore and make him get a dorm on campus. Where he would be with that pack <em>all the time.</em>” Jae finished his rant, effectively shutting Younghyun up.</p><p>“Don’t call me Brian.” He snapped, for the sake of having the last word.</p><p>“And if worst comes to worst, he has a phone. If he gets in real trouble he knows who to call, he’s not <em>that</em> stupid.”</p><p>~</p><p>    </p><p>Turns out Youngkyun <em>was</em> stupid enough not to call if he got in real trouble.</p><p>Let’s rewind to the moment Youngkyun arrived at campus and ran into one of his only friends, Hwang Hyunjin.</p><p>“First of all, I love your new beanie, red’s totally your color. And second, why <em>the fuck</em> can I smell you, isn’t that like, dangerous for you?” Hyunjin said, worried.  His light grey wolf ears standing upright in alarm.</p><p>“I used all my suppressors already and my next batch is due next week.” Youngkyun informed him, pulling him along hurriedly. They were late and his friend was known for always taking his sweet time to do just about anything. He let the ‘dangerous’ comment go. Since he was a cat hybrid Hyunjin thought everyone was out to get him, which was very exaggerated in his opinion, just because cat and bunny hybrids were rare didn’t mean they were hunted. They were a lot of laws to make sure those two breeds stayed safe now.</p><p>“But we have one of the new guys in journalism today, and right down the hall is the dance studio, where I think another few of them will be.” Hyunjin said, still worried. He had seen how those guys had reacted to him when he walked in the cafeteria last week.</p><p>“I am <em>not </em>missing this class, it’s the only one I actually enjoy and I will be damned before some random idiots are gonna keep me from going.”</p><p>“Yeah, some random idiots who are all big predators, some of which have actually <em>grown up </em>in the wild. And somehow could smell you from across a <em>full </em>cafeteria while you were wearing suppressors! Don’t you know how lucky you were that Yeosang somehow likes you and glared at their youngest to distract them! I don’t even wanna know what could’ve happened if he didn’t step in.” Hyunjin ranted, dramatically flailing his arms around for emphasis. Hyunjin loved his friend, but he was both the smartest person he knew and an absolute dumbass at the same time.</p><p>Youngkyun just sighed, remembering what happened in the canteen last week.</p><p>~</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun was staring in both disgust and amusement at the scene across the table, where Jisung and Minho where grossly flirting with each other. Hyunjin was cuddled on his left side and whispering the newest gossip in his ear while Chan was describing his new assignment on a new music piece he was creating on his right. He nodded along in interest, even though he majored in journalism he was also interested in music and the juicy gossip wasn’t half bad this time either, although he already knew what Hyunjin told him most of the time. He turned his full attention to Hyunjin when he said something about a new pack.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What? A whole new pack moved here?” Youngkyun asked Hyunjin quietly, he was shocked and disappointed in himself that he didn’t know already. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, and apparently they all are some kind of savages or something if the rumors are true.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Spill the tea, you got me curious now.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hyunjin let a smug smile slip onto his face. “I thought you always knew everything about everyone, Youngkyunnie?” He teased. At his annoyed glare he laughed but continued anyway. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“The only things that I know for sure are facts are that Yoo Taeyang, Lee Sanghyuck and Kim Seokwoo did live in the wild for their whole lives. On the rest I have nothing concrete.” Hyunjin shared.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun ignored the feeling of stomach falling to his feet and focused on getting as much information about this new pack to stay out of their way. He did <strong>not</strong> like savages.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Do you know what kind of species they are?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I think I do-“ Hyunjin was cut off when the doors to the canteen opened and a noticeable hush fell over the canteen.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hyunjin’s head shot up and he tried to get a better look at them, while Youngkyun continued eating. He will take a look after they sit down, he couldn’t even see anything from his spot anyway.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Right as he was about to take a bite out of the homemade food Wonpil (with the help of Sungjin) made for him, a mixture of scents hit his nose. Instantly overwhelming him and making him drop his fork. Hyunjin and Chan immediately turned to him, Chan talking to him in calming manner as he slowly hunched over, feeling his head starting to throb. These scents where the best he ever smelled, but they were so strong and there were so many, he couldn’t handle it. He let a small whimper escape him, the stress he was currently feeling being too much for him. His breathing got heavier by the second.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He looked up to see one of his best friends Yeosang worriedly gazing at him, his brown tail swishing around in slight anxiety. When he made a vaguely movement to his nose, which he now covered with his other hand to try and keep the scents out, he seemed to understand. The other cat hybrid turned back to where the new pack seemed to have stopped walking, sniffing the air. And put on his harshest glare and set his sights on the shortest among them. Even throwing in a hiss for good measure. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The one with sharp cheekbones immediately turned to him, baring his teeth at him and lunging. Instead of watching Youngkyun turned to Hyunjin and whispered: “Get me out of here right <strong>now</strong>.”</em>
</p><p>~</p><p>“Yeah well, you’re not the only one who’s worried, Younghyun-hyung found that the new pack attacked Hongjoong’s pack and he almost forced me to stay home. He treated me like I was little kid, I’m turning nineteen in a couple of weeks for god’s sake!” Youngkyun complained.</p><p>Hyunjin hummed empathically, knowing that Youngkyun’s hyungs were sweet but also a bit over-protective.</p><p>They quickly walked into their class room, still having made it, somehow, with a few minutes to spare. And sat down on the left side where the windows where, quickly snagging the last seats.</p><p>Hyunjin immediately turned sideways and continued talking.</p><p>“But seriously, what are you gonna do when that guy appears? I mean the last time you got lucky because of you repressors, but you don’t have them now. And Yeosang isn’t around to save the day this time.” Hyunjin said worriedly.</p><p>“Okay then, which one do we have in this class?”</p><p>“I think his name was something Chanhee…” Hyunjin trailed off.</p><p>“Okay, Okay. So that’s the panther hybrid right?” Youngkyun had his own sources tell him as much as they could, without it becoming desperate of course. He wanted to actually keep his sources.</p><p>“And who’s down the hall?”</p><p>“I think Kim Youngbin and Yoo Taeyang, the pack leader and the one who tried to attack Yeosang.” Hyunjin informed him.</p><p>He swallowed harshly when he heard the last name, he was one of the three who had truly grown up in the wild. The rest of the pack only lived there when they were younger and went back to visit in vacations.</p><p>Is it creepy he knew all of this already? Probably.</p><p>Did he care? Not even one bit.</p><p>Would he find out more soon? If it was up to him, yes.</p><p>“The bear and wolf hybrid.” He murmured to himself. Why did one of the three that had grown up in the wild have to be so close. Their sense of smell were better trained than other hybrids. He could only hope Yoo Taeyang was having an off day and didn’t smell him.</p><p>Hyunjin nodded and was about to open his mouth when the teacher walked in and called for their attention, starting her lesson right away. He gave him one last look and then turned around, paying attention.</p><p>Fifteen minutes into the lecture and there still no sign of Kang Chanhee, to Youngkyun’s relief. Maybe he was sick or the whole pack didn’t come to school today. Right as he began to let his guard down and let his ears and tail relax for the first time since he came to school, the door flew open.</p><p>And the most delicious scent flew into the room, chocolates and some kind of spice he couldn’t identify. He wanted to run towards the scent and drown in it, he never wanted to smell anything else, he wanted-</p><p><em>‘I need to get grip goddammit, I refuse to be this weak!’ </em>Youngkyun thought to himself, shaking his head roughly. He would not swoon over a goddamn <em>scent</em>!</p><p>He risked a glance, keeping his eyes low as to not make eye contact. Lord knows he’d be in even more trouble if he did <em>that</em>. They seemed about to be the same height, maybe Youngkyun was a bit taller. He had chocolate brown hair (<em>matching his divine scen- </em>shut up brain) his black round ears just visible over his hair, matching his eyes perfectly. He was wearing a black hoodie with grey pants, his long black tail swishing back and forth excitedly, and he had a black leather backpack over his shoulder. His mouth was moving and the teacher looked at him unimpressed, annoyed that he disturbed her lesson.</p><p>“I’ll let it go this time since you’re still relatively new, but next time you can expect extra work.” She said, pushing her blonde hair out of her face and turning back to the blackboard. He stood still for a second before quickly turning around and finding a seat.</p><p>Youngkyun quickly faced his desk again when his gaze swept to his side of the classroom.</p><p>
  <em>Stay away from me, stay away from me, stay away- Fuck you.</em>
</p><p>His thoughts came to screeching halt when he heard the chair behind him move, a backpack falling to the ground with a muffled ‘thud’. He felt more than he heard the guy behind him leaning forward. He tensed up further, trying to ignore the mouthwatering scent.</p><p>“Wait up for me after class.” He ducked his head and didn’t answer.</p><p>~</p><p>Youngkyun was anxiously gazing at the clock, it was only a few minutes till the class ended. He only had a few more minutes to think of a grand escape plan or he was screwed. He just needed to get through this class and think of a better plan for the future.</p><p>He would just have to avoid them to best of his abilities. Yeah! That would work! ‘It had to.’ He thought miserably.</p><p>‘Yeah, it’s not like they’re all stronger and probably faster than you. And have a better sense of smell that you could ever dream off.’ A treacherous voice in the back of his mind whispered.</p><p>He was a cat for god’s sake! He maybe couldn’t outrun them but he could, he could…</p><p>Yeah… Youngkyun was fucked wasn’t he?</p><p>He sighed and shook his head, trying to clear his head. He had already packed his bag and was planning to just leg it and lose the panther behind him in the crowd. Hyunjin had been trying to talk to him for the entire lesson, but he wasn’t the best at being discreet when he was worried.</p><p>His heart was racing, the last minute ticking away slowly. He sneakily grabbed his bag, which he had slowly been moving under his desk for the entirety of the lesson. He readied himself to run without it being too obvious to the panther behind him.</p><p>The teacher looked at the clock and sighed. “I guess this was it for today’s lesson, don’t forget the research the topics we talked about today-“ He didn’t catch the rest as he stood up and sprinted towards the door, ripping it open and making it to the end of the hallway, but made the mistake of turning his head to check where Chanhee was.</p><p>He ran right into a firm chest, he could feel himself falling backwards before arms encircled his waist and pushed him snugly into the firm chest, his hands landing on the guys shoulders. The scent hit him hard, just like Chanhee’s did when he slammed the door open. He smelled like the woods after it just had rained mixed with something spicy. He almost started purring right then and there before he realized who was holding him.</p><p>“Thank god you were there Taeyang-hyung! He’s faster than he looks.” Chanhee said as he came to stop behind him, barely out of breath. He tried to break free from the arms around his waist but they only held on tighter. Taeyang’s head slowly coming down to lean on his shoulder, rubbing his head on the fabric of his flannel. Inching closer and closer to his scent gland, a tiny part between his neck and collarbone.</p><p>His heart was racing and his ears probably weren’t even visible anymore even if you took his beanie off. The hairs on his tail were as upright as it could around his waist, his shirt feeling very constrictive at the moment. He did not like big shifters, they always brought trouble and hurt along. He didn’t want to be this close to one.</p><p>‘<em>oh my god I can’t breathe, I just want to go home and cuddle with Jae and never leave home again.’ </em>He panicked, freezing up even more. He didn’t even allow Jae near his scent gland, let alone a random stranger who happened to smell <em>really </em>good.</p><p>“Taeyang calm down! The poor guy looks like he’s about the faint! Not <em>everybody</em> was raised in the wild!” Chanhee scolded him, moving to hit him but stopping when he heard a warning growl. Chanhee just sighed in annoyance and was about to open his mouth-</p><p>“Comin’ through!” Was heard before Youngkyun felt somebody plow right into him and Taeyang, successfully pulling them apart. He looked dazedly around him for a second, the divine scents making him his instincts falter. He looked up when a hand settled on his shoulder, and stared right into his favorite squirrel's grinning face: Han Jisung. “I’m not tryna rush you, but if you wanna make a quick getaway, we gotta make dash for it now.”</p><p>He didn’t need to be told twice. He shot to his feet, grabbing a hold of Jisung’s awaiting hand and ran like hell was on his heels. Which it probably was when he heard two furious growls fill the hallway behind them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. God damn it Youngbin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Hey Youngkyun, I’m Kim Youngbin. I was hoping to have a quick chat with you?”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's chapter two!! I hope you guys like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You know you can’t run from them forever, right?” Yeosang’s voice rang throughout Youngkyun’s bedroom. Youngkyun sighed and picked up his phone, walking with it to the living room so he could keep talking to Yeosang. His brother and his mates were downstairs manning the café. They didn’t know about this whole ‘savage mates’ thing yet and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.</p><p>“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it running. I’m just keeping an ear out and avoiding any places they’ll most likely be!” Yeosang snorted through the phone.</p><p>“Call it whatever you want, Hwiyoungie. Just know that they’re going to eventually catch you, no matter how sneaky or smart you think you are.”</p><p>“What else am I supposed to do!? Everybody knows that by chasing a cat you won’t make it like you!”</p><p>“Do they even know you’re a cat?”  </p><p>The silence that followed was answer enough and Yeosang let out a big, exasperated sigh.</p><p>“I don’t know how to tell them okay! Everytime they even get a whiff of my scent they start going crazy and it’s scary!” Yeosang hummed in sympathy. He knew why Youngkyun was so wary of big shifters, especially savages.</p><p>“Why don’t you just leave a note to the pack leader or something, or wait for him to seek you out? I’m surprised he hasn’t already, although I’m sure he has his hands full with his pack right now.” Yeosang chuckled. Basically the whole school knew by now that Kim Youngbin’s pack was chasing Youngkyun.</p><p>“But I gotta go, I promised Wooyoungie that I’d go to the movies with him. And if I don’t get ready soon he will start screaming again. Bye!” Youngkyun said his goodbyes too and told him to have fun with an amused smile. He let himself unceremoniously flop down on the couch and put his phone down on the table in front of him.</p><p>Youngkyun picked up the tv remote and turned it on to a random game show. He didn’t bother channel surfing and just let it stay on as background noise. He wiggled around a little before finding a position that he liked and sighed. It was time for his favorite way to pass the time, napping. He closed his eyes and expected to immediately doze off, as normally would happen. But his mind kept going back to the last few days.</p><p>It was a Wednesday when Chanhee and Taeyang managed to trap him in that hallway just outside his journalisms class. It was Sunday now. That Wednesday was also the first day that the school would witness its first chase, with many to follow. He smirked a little when he remembered how he and Jisung managed to get away. He still felt rather proud about it.</p><p>~</p><p>
  <em>The further Youngkyun got away from the scents, the more his mind and instincts cleared. His human part was screaming at him to get away as fast as possible, while his cat part was still dubious. It wanted to meet their mates but also didn’t like how the wolf simply grabbed him, and didn’t let him go when he made it obvious he didn’t want to be held. It was very head ache inducing </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So, where to kitty-cat?” Jisung asked, still pulling him along. His voice quivered slightly when he heard the furious growling get closer. When Hyunjin came to him in a panic saying that Youngkyun was in trouble, he didn’t expect <strong>this</strong>.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun shook his head and forced his mind to think of a plan. They couldn’t go to the canteen, it was in other direction. They couldn’t keep going straight, the panther and wolf hybrid had more stamina than them and would eventually catch up. They could try and call out for help, but there was nobody in this side of the building on Wednesdays. Maybe the- <strong>Wait that’s it!</strong> the theatre club had an production just last night! He grinned and quickly pulled Jisung along into the next hallway he saw, heading for the auditorium. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung was confused and asked what he was doing when he quickly ran through the rows of seats, jumping on the stage with a certain grace one could only expect from a cat. Jisung on the other would have fallen down if it wasn’t for the strong hold Youngkyun had on him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He quickly pulled him backstage, they speed-walked through a few hallways until they stopped at a door which had one plaque one it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Laundry room?” Jisung whispered loudly. Youngkyun thanked his lucky stars that the squirrel listened to his instincts and actually used his inside voice for once.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun nodded and opened the door, holding his finger to his lips in a ‘shush’ sign. “The theatre kids had a production here last night, I’m hoping that the scents of the crowd will confuse them enough so that they won’t smell that we’ve gone back here.” Youngkyun explained so quietly he almost wasn’t heard. He then turned around and started rummaging through the clothes laying around the room.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Then why didn’t we run for the emergency exit, why are we not running now.” Jisung asked in a harsh whisper, his instincts were telling him to get as far away from the two predators as possible. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Because Yoo Taeyang is a savage, his sense of smell is better than ours. So we have to mask our scent before we make our grand escape.” Youngkyun ended his little explanation by throwing a green vest and dark grey loose pants at Jisung’s head. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jisung looked at Youngkyun while put on a red blazer and black leggings over his own clothes, holding his ‘burrowed’ clothes. ‘Hyunjin wasn’t kidding when he said this kid was quick on his feet.’ Jisung thought, shaking himself out of his stupor and quickly changing. As they opened the door from the laundry room they heard the big doors of the auditorium slam open, making them both freeze and look at eachother with an ‘oh shit’-look. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Youngkyun? We know you’re here, just come out. We promise we’ll behave!” Chanhee yelled through the auditorium, making Youngkyun’s will waver. Was it really smart of him to run from his mates?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Speak for yourself…” He heard a low voice mutter, a slap echoing through the room soon after.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He almost let out a hiss, but stopped himself just in time. Simply grabbing ahold of Jisung’s hand again and quietly leaving through the emergency exit.</em>
</p><p>~</p><p>His hair was standing on end and he knew that he wasn’t going to get any sleep now. Much to annoyed as all the other encounters flew through his mind.</p><p>Seokwoo and Sanghyuck trying to corner him in a classroom. ( he escaped through the window, even in his human form he always landed lightly on his feet)</p><p>Inseong and Jaeyoon trying to corner him in the library. (Pushed over a book cart and they got the blame, helping out there in his free time for extra credit made the librarian like him)</p><p>And to end this very exhausting week, Juho, Taeyang and Chanhee tried to follow him home. (he noticed them trying to board his bus with ridiculous hats and sunglasses, he still didn’t know if they were shocked he managed to see through their ‘disguise’ or that he hissed and bared his teeth at them)</p><p>He let out a loud groan, throwing his head back in annoyance while he stretched out, laying in a position Sungjin would wince at but he was extremely comfortable in. Even if they weren’t around they still managed to bug him.</p><p>Just as he was considering standing up and maybe snagging a few hours of sleep in Jae’s room, the door connecting to the café opened and Wonpil popped his head in. “Hey Hwiyoungie, there’s a guy downstairs asking for you. Something about a project…?” Wonpil’s black fox ears drooped slightly as he tried to remember more details.</p><p>Youngkyun frowned but nodded, saying he’d be right down. He most certainly didn’t remember anything about a project, and it was not like him to forget something like that.</p><p>He quickly grabbed his favorite dark blue beanie and tucked his tail in his pants. He didn’t have time to loop it around his waist right now so this would have to do, even if it would start itching like crazy later. He looked down at his at his very old but very comfortable black joggers and his soft white shirt, which was also very worn out and may or may not have a few holes in it from excessive wearing. He shrugged and fixed his tail, picking up his phone and putting it in his pocket. His guest would have to deal with it, he was too lazy to go change now.</p><p>Youngkyun walked over to the door and pulled it open, quickly walking down the stairs and into the kitchen where Sungjin waved at him, his bear ears hidden by his chef’s hat. He waved back and pushed open the door connecting the kitchen to the bar. The second he opened the door he wished he hadn’t, the now familiar feeling of a mates scent washing over him. Freshly bloomed flowers and peaches. He looked up into kind brown eyes and an nervous smile who looked at him anxiously. He suddenly regretted not changing his clothes earlier.</p><p>“Hey Youngkyun, I’m Kim Youngbin. I was hoping to have a quick chat with you?” He seemed nervous, Youngkyun noted in surprise.</p><p>He was frozen for a second as he tried to make sense of the situation. This one seemed more calm than the rest of his pack, actually asking him if he wanted to do something instead of trying to force or corner him. And it looked like he would respect his wishes if he said no.</p><p>“Yo Hwi, go talk to your friend or go back upstairs. But don’t just stand behind the bar and do nothing.” Jae spoke, gently pushing him aside to get to the cups.</p><p>He shook himself out of his musings, giving Youngbin one last calculating look. He looked back at him with hopeful eyes.</p><p>“Fine, but we’re staying in the café.” He conceded. He tried to ignore Youngbin’s joyous smile as he led them to a booth by the window. This way they were still in view of his brothers if he decided to go savage on him, but still far enough to have some sort of privacy.</p><p>“Alright, I guess I should start with apologizing for my pack.” He paused to chuckle at the ‘oh really now?’-look Youngkyun threw him. “But in their defense, even if they went and still are going about it the wrong way, they’re just excited to meet you. We know you’re our final mate, our tattoos say eight not seven.” He joked, making Youngkyun shift, feeling the little mark on his back tingle. He looked down and didn’t answer, having a feeling that if he spoke his mind (which didn’t have forgiveness on it right now) the bear wouldn’t like it.</p><p>Youngbin sighed, folding his hands together on top of the table, his friendly gaze growing serious. “Look, we have a very good why we behaved the way we did. And I would love to tell you but-“ He looked around him and then back at Youngkyun. “it’s a little crowded here.” He finished.</p><p>Youngkyun also looked around. It wasn’t as busy as it could’ve been, but Day6 is a popular café. But as far as he could tell no one was paying them any special attention.(except for Dowoon and Younghyun, who were <em>trying</em> to be subtle) He <em>could</em> understand why he wouldn’t want to talk about it in such a public place, if it really <em>was</em> as personal as he made it out to be. He let out a little sigh when a thought popped into his mind, making Youngbin look at him.</p><p>“We <em>could</em> go upstairs, if you’d be more comfortable there.” He breathed out, saying it so fast he almost hoped Youngbin didn’t catch it.</p><p>Youngbin lighted up and quickly nodded opening his mouth-</p><p>“Here ya go Hwi and Hwi’s friend, on the house.” Younghyun interrupted them. Setting a plate of their famous chocolate chips cookies with a two glasses of chocolate milk, his was white(white chocolate milk is superior, nobody can change his mind) and Youngbin’s was the usual with whipped cream on top.</p><p>“Actually, can we take this with us upstairs? We were gonna make a start on our <em>project</em>.” He said, side-eyeing Youngbin and smirking slightly when he saw a faint red hue on his cheeks.</p><p>Younghyun looked at him in slight surprise before nodding and leaning down. “But don’t you dare make a mess upstairs, we already have three messes living here. Two who don’t even r<em>eally </em>live here!” He requested in a mock whisper, giving him a wink while turning around and marching back to the counter. Youngkyun shook his head, a little amused smile playing at his lips as he watched Younghyun.</p><p>He turned back to look at Youngbin, his nervousness immediately resurfacing. He was smiling at him with a soft look in his eyes (<em>don’t you mean fondness in his ey</em>- shut <strong>up </strong>brain!). he cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up, his chocolate milk in hand. “Well, uhm, let- let’s go then.” He stuttered his way through the sentence. He quickly turned around and marched towards the bar, mortified of himself. He was that one kid who always had an answer ready, the snarky little shit, the silver tongue! If his friends found out about this he would never live it down.</p><p>He ignored the quiet chuckling behind him, and Jae and Dowoon gaping at him (maybe he didn’t let his friends come over as much, but they were just being dramatic) and pushed through the door to the kitchen again. Sungjin was about to open his mouth, probably to ask why his lazy ass was in the café just now, but closed it with an befuddled look when he saw Youngbin following him with the cookies and his own chocolate milk. When he looked back he was still looking at the door they came through with the same look on his face.</p><p>He led Youngbin up the stairs and through the door right into the living room of his home, he set down his glass and quickly curled up on the recliner instead of the couch, forcing them to sit apart. Instead of sitting down like Youngkyun expected him to, he walked over to the pictures that lined the wall next to the tv and the hallway to the bathrooms and bedrooms. He smiled when he saw a picture of a younger Youngkyun on the shoulders of the one he saw in the kitchen while the beach served as their backdrop, blinding smiles on their faces.</p><p>“How long have you been with this pack?”</p><p>“How long have I lived with them or how long ago when they dubbed me as ‘their child’?” Youngbin turned around with a funny look on his face before turning back to the pictures.</p><p>“Both.”</p><p>“I actually just started living here at the start of the schoolyear with my big brother, Jae. The others just visit so much that it’s like they live here too. And they practically adopted me when they first met me and I didn’t attack them immediately.” Youngbin laughed in surprise, turning around with wide eyes.</p><p>“Why would a house animal attack his brothers mates?” Youngbin questioned in amused confusion. Finally taking a seat on the couch opposite of Youngkyun, the coffee table between them acting as a flimsy barrier.</p><p>The hair on his tail stood up on end at the thought of being called a ‘house’ animal. If he met him a few years ago his pack would have been <em>lucky </em>to get away with just a few hisses.</p><p>“I thought we came up here to hear your packs reason as to why they have been chasing me like lunatics?” Youngkyun snapped unintentionally.</p><p>Youngbin blinked at him in surprise before the serious look from downstairs returned. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and looked Youngkyun straight in the eye. He almost leaned back from the sudden intensity, the light-hearted atmosphere in the room getting heavy.</p><p>“Before I say anything I need to know that you won’t tell this to anyone, we don’t like to… flaunt this part of us around.”</p><p>Youngkyun averted his eyes and stared at his fiddling fingers, an ominous feeling settling in his stomach. “I already know pretty much every rumor at our school, including which are fake and which are real. I think I can keep your secret too.”</p><p>Youngbin gave him a slightly impressed look. “Okay then-“ He took a deep breath, leaning back into the couch and levelling his gaze with Youngkyun’s again. “Me and my pack are known as SF9, we fight for the freedom of our people still stuck in the human cities. We fight for their rights and try to bring them back to our cities.”</p><p>Youngkyun had his tilted in slight confusion. “So you, like, go and organize protest and rallies in the human cities?”</p><p>“I guess you could put it like that, yeah.”</p><p>At Youngbin’s confirmation he let out a laugh. “I thought you guys were like a sort of gang that beat up or hunt humans or something! Not peaceful protestors who keep wholesome rallies and protests!” Youngkyun giggled slightly.</p><p>Youngbin laughed along awkwardly, glad he didn’t chose to keep asking questions. He really didn’t want to lie to his mate.</p><p>Youngkyun shook his head with a small smile still at his lips, his mind still reeling over how dramatic Youngbin had been, reaching forward to grab a cookie. A comfortable silence falling over the room.</p><p>“<em>Soo</em>, is this the part where I finally ask exactly what kind of shifter you are?”</p><p>Youngkyun consequently choked on his cookie.</p><p>It’s not that he didn’t expect this question, it was actually one of the first questions he thought he would have to answer. It’s just that he kinda forgot Youngbin didn’t know yet… maybe he <em>is </em>an dumbass sometimes.</p><p>He coughed up a lung while Youngbin panicked and ran over to him, sitting in front of him on the coffee table, offering him his chocolate milk and patting him on the back.</p><p>“I’m fine, I’m fine now-“ He let out one last cough, clearing his throat and leaning back on his recliner. Sipping from his still surprisingly hot chocolate milk. “I’m a cat.”</p><p>Now it was Youngbin’s turn to choke, only he was lucky he wasn’t eating anything ergo he wasn’t in any choking danger.</p><p>“That, that explains <em>a lot</em> actually.” He face palmed when a thought struck him. “Oh my god of <em>course</em> you would run from us. Everyone knows that if you chase a cat it you won’t make it like you. I’m so sorry Youngkyun, I will be sure to keep them in check now. Please don’t hate us!” It was honestly pretty adorable to see the so-called ‘composed’ pack leader so flustered.</p><p>While Youngbin took a minute to compose himself Youngkyun took another sip of his drink, this time already anticipating the next question.</p><p>“What breed are you, if I may ask?” In an effort to probably not offend him, Youngbin ended up sounding overly formal. Much too Youngkyun’s amusement.</p><p>“I promised I wouldn’t tell your secret, now you gotta promise you won’t tell mine, okay?” Youngkyun asked, feeling it’s only fair to give a secret for a secret.</p><p>Youngbin immediately straightened out. “Of course Youngkyun, whatever you say next will not leave this room.” He promised.</p><p>Youngkyun nodded and reached for his beanie, slowly pulling it off while his tail freed itself from his pants, settling on his thighs. His ears stood up straight, catching every and any sound Youngbin made. There was a slight gasp and then silence. Youngkyun resumed fiddling with his fingers, not having looked up since he took his beanie off and wondering if he made the right decision.</p><p>“So that’s why you snapped at me when I called you an house animal.” Youngbin quietly chuckled.</p><p>Youngkyun looked up and nodded, not missing the soft smile Youngbin had on his face but choosing to ignore it for the time being.</p><p>“Bengals are anything but house cats. I’ll have you know that I lived in the wild until I was seven years old!” Youngkyun grumbled.</p><p>“But I thought the Bengals were extinct! The only pack that existed lived in the wild years ago and was one of the main targets during the giant massacre! How did you-“ Youngbin cut himself off.</p><p>There was an awkward silence, both of them knowing what Youngbin was about to ask. Youngkyun rubbed the back of his neck, slightly reaching under his shirt to feel the scarred skin of his back.</p><p>Youngkyun suddenly shot up and leaned on all fours on one of the recliners armrests, hissing loudly.</p><p>Youngbin froze, half way to reaching out to pet Youngkyun’s ears.</p><p>“How the hell are you bala-“</p><p>“No touchies!”</p><p>Youngbin deflated and nodded.</p><p>~</p><p>Youngkyun did <em>not </em>like morning classes.</p><p>He didn’t know what possessed him to take class in the early morning on a Monday, but he would have this fixed by next week (he has been saying for <em>months</em> now).</p><p>Youngbin had left after the almost petting accident, promising to keep his secret and not stopping apologizing until he almost literally closed the door in his face. After getting some sort of explanation, he had finally been able to take a nap.</p><p>Right as he was about to take another nap, communication and media be damned. The door slammed open and three familiar mouthwatering scents flowed through the room, the angry pheromones underneath the scents unable to be ignored. Some hybrids already gearing up to defend themselves.</p><p>He stared right into the faces of a very annoyed Lee Sanghyuk, Yoo Taeyang and Kim Seokwoo.     </p><p>“You grew up in the wild too you little shit!”</p><p>“Why did you run from us if you knew this is our way of courting?!”</p><p>“You made us very worried Youngkyun!”</p><p>He dropped his head in the table with a loud <em>thunk</em>, his mind already planning an escape route.</p><p>
  <em>God damn it Youngbin</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And to avoid any future confusion, there's no separate personality between a shifters human and animal part. They just have two sets of instincts that sometimes clash when the animal part wants something else than the human part and vice versa.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Bird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A little flashback into the life Youngkyun used to live in the wild.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you guys like it! The real update will be updated on Monday, as usual.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Youngkyun was perched on a tree branch, trying to catch a deliciously plump bird. He was going to catch it and bring it home to his mama! That would prove to her that he could follow in his papa’s and mama’s footsteps! He would be a hunter and bring home food for the whole pack! He would be the greatest just like his papa and mama are!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He wiggled his butt in air, his tail standing still for balance. He watched as the bird finally stopped moving and sat itself on a thick branch underneath him, unaware of the little predator above it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He got ready for the jump, just like his best friend taught him. His muscles tightened in anticipation and he pushed off. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He soared through the air and let out a excited chirrup when he felt his claws close around something squishy, immediately tightening his grip and keeping it just like his papa taught him until it stopped moving.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He moved off the bird, taking it in his mouth and carefully jumping down the tree. He saw one of the older kittens fall down once and break her paw, he didn’t see her for three weeks and even then she didn’t climb until a few weeks after the fall. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He happily ran into the little house, heading into the kitchen, muffled chirrups escaping him in excitement. His mama would have to believe he was good enough now! Jisoo from down the path didn’t even catch a bird yet, and he was a few years older than him!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>His mother let a small smile slip onto her face, not turning away from the counter where she was cutting something up. “Hwiyoungie, if you want to tell me something you have to change to your human skin. We talked about this baby.” She said, fondly saying the nickname she made up for him when he couldn’t pronounce his name yet. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He jumped onto the counter where his mama was busy, dropping the bird close to her and then jumped down again, quickly changing and tugging on some pants. It was considered improper to leave your house with your private parts out, so everybody had to wear pants, shirts were optional. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She looked at him in amusement and then looked at the bird, a proud glint in her eyes. Her green eyes glinted in the sun streaming through the window, lighting up her dark brown hair with natural lighter highlights in it, hair he inherited from her. Her dress moving with her as she moved, matching her beautiful spotted ears and tail, looking as beautiful as she is deadly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did you catch this on your own Hwiyoungie?” She questioned, tilting her head slightly in mock skepticism. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I did mama, I did! Do you believe now that I can hunt with you and papa!?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She chuckled and sat down, pulling him up in her lap and scratching him behind his ears. He purred like a motor boat, making his mama laugh. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why are you two cuddling without me?!” A deep voice cried out in indignation. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun let out a happy squeal when he was picked up from his mother’s lap, thrown in the air and getting caught again. “What are we celebrating?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Our Hwiyoungie brought home his first prey, a bird.” His mama said proudly, gesturing to the dead bird on the counter.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did he now, huh? I knew you had it in you Hwiyoung!” His papa cheered throwing him up into the air again before giving him a bear hug, Youngkyun almost screaming with happy laughter, his mama watching the scene with fondness. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He put his son back in his mother’s lap, giving his mate a quick kiss over his sons head before looking back at Youngkyun, meeting identical honey brown eyes. “Why don’t you go out and find yourself something to do, so your mama and I can make you the best meal you ever had as reward for the bird?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes! Thank you papa, thank you mama!” He shouted happily, giving the both of them bear hugs before rushing off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh and Hwiyoungie?-“ He turned around, his tail swishing behind him in excitement. “I heard the panthers are visiting.” He let out a happy yell before running off to find his friend. His parents watching him go with both exasperated and fond looks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>~</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hwiyoungie!” An excited voice yelled before a heavy body slammed against him from the side. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>They rolled through the grass, high pitched laughter escaping them, making some shifters look at them in amusement. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming!” Youngkyun whined, nipping his ear. The cub beneath him cried out in slight pain. He slapped the young cub with his tail to finish it off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hwi! You just took a bite out of my ear, I have a hole in it now! And I didn’t know until we were leaving! You know I always tell you when I have the ch- stop hitting me!” The boy beneath him laughed, gently grabbing a hold of his tail. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He grumpily huffed, plopping his full weight down onto the cub beneath him, making the boy groan. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Are you going to keep squishing me or are we gonna play!” The cub playfully growled, pushing the kitten off of him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh!” Youngkyun gasped sitting upright, a happy grin forming on his face. “Guess what I did today!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You got back at Youngjae for trying to bite your tail?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Well yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You finally managed to find out where your mama keeps the treats?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Noo! You’re losing your touch you toenail!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Then what is it!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I caught my first prey today! A bird!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That’s amazing Hwiyoungie!” The cub yelled, trying to pick the cat up. Ultimately failing seeing they were about to same height, the cub being a bit taller. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“We have to celebrate right now! We’re lucky I’m here for today!” The young boy smiled.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun’s smile slipped a little. “<strong>Only</strong> today?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“We’re passing through here, we’re gathering supplies and then leave around dinner. The only thing I know is that we’re going to guard and patrol the city. Mama said it’d be a good teaching moment for me!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun’s ears dropped slightly, his lips forming a slight pout. The young cub started panicking slightly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But, but we can make today the best day <strong>ever</strong>! As a celebration for your first ever catch! We’re going down to the river and play all day, for however long you want. Please don’t be sad!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Youngkyun sighed before smiling again. “Let’s go then, we don’t have any time to waste!” He shouted, standing up and pulling the cub up, running up the path towards the lake. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>~</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hwiyoung! Time for dinner!” His mama shouted from up the hill, the two young boys drying up in the sun while talking about everything they could. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The both of them looked up, their ears lowering in slight sadness. His best friend would have to leave now. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The cub looked at him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t worry Hwiyoungie! I’ll be fine, I’ll be with my mama and papa, and they would never let anything happen to me! I’ll find you when everything’s over okay? Then we can play for as long as we want!”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>How did you guys like Young Youngkyunnie? and yes his mom gave him the name Hwiyoung.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. God damn it Youngbin part two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“And I think you should give us a chance before turning us away without a second thought!”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's chapter 3! hope you guys enjoy it! (and please keep in mind that english is not my first language)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Youngkyun was angrily shelving books in the university’s library, still pissed at Youngbin. The idiot told the whole pack he grew up in the wild, probably also that he was Bengal!</p><p>‘I should’ve never told him so easily, but I <em>had </em>to look him in the eyes when I opened that damn door.' He thought to himself in frustration, almost throwing a book in its place. He sighed and leaned on his cart, trying to calm down before he destroyed a book. He was sure the librarian wouldn’t like him anymore if that happened.</p><p>And he was also angry at Yoo Taeyang, Kim Seokwoo and Lee Sanghyuk. The idiots tried to jump him in his morning class and almost caused a goddamn mass fight! Luckily he was quick on his feet and ran for the windows, jumping and moving around the school in circles for the rest of the day. Managing to avoid the rest of them by wearing Kim Woojin’s jacket and Hyunjin’s beanie.</p><p>And at last he was also angry at himself, for looking the idiot in his eyes yesterday. Now they have a beginning soul connection that’s waiting to be nurtured. He took a deep breath, forcing back his canines and growing claws that were beginning to show. Before the idiots showed up he was in perfect control, and now he almost lost it in the damn library. This was supposed to be his happy place at school, and now they were ruining that too.</p><p>“I can smell the agitation from across the library Kyunnie, what did the idiots do now?” He looked up and felt his face flush. (he may or may not have complained to his friends about them at lunch, <em>a lot</em>) Yeosang leaned against the bookshelf he was supposed to be shelving, holding a paper brown bag.</p><p>“I have a good reason to be mad.” He huffed, picking up a book and looking at it. The students who were supposed to put them in the right order never did, so he had to do that <em>and</em> make sure the books actually went to the right places. “What’s with the bag, you don’t eat a second lunch. It makes you nauseous.”</p><p>“It isn’t for me, it’s a little gift.” He smirked slightly, handing him the bag.</p><p>He looked at the bag before slightly leaning to the side, looking past his bookshelf and Yeosang, and checked if the librarian was looking. He smiled slightly when he saw the old lady was sound asleep. She was a nice old dog shifter, who was terrifying if she got mad. He put the book down and turned back to Yeosang,  making grabby-hands at the brown bag. It smelled like chocolate, and dear lord how much he craved chocolate when he was mad or feeling particularly emotional.</p><p>Yeosang let him grab it with a fond smile. Youngkyun ignored it in favor of seeing what his friend brought him, almost letting out a squeaky chirrup when he saw the devils cake.</p><p>“Oh my god is this the <em>good </em>devils cake, from the little bakery near the museum!? How did you afford this? You didn’t get one of your mates to steal it for you did you?” Youngkyun fired one question after the other, sitting down at one of the corner tables, just out of sight from the librarian if she decided to wake up. The one thing they both bonded over, excluding the fact that they were both cat hybrids, is that they liked getting others to do things for them.</p><p>“I didn’t get it for you. And it’s home made.”</p><p>“But you just said it was a gift? And who made it then?”</p><p>“It <em>is </em>a gift, just not from <em>me</em>. I’m the messenger.”</p><p>He put down the fork he was about to use to take a bite out of the godlike cake in front of him, getting a bad feeling in his stomach.</p><p>“Then <em>who </em>is the sender?”</p><p>Yeosang looked away, his light brown tail swishing around behind him. Youngkyun’s gut feeling got worse.</p><p>“Kim Youngbin, he came to- hey wait!”</p><p>He shook his head and put the cake back into the bag, handing it back to a flabbergasted Yeosang and standing up, marching back to his cart. “Well, give it back to him and tell him I don’t wanna hear it.” He spat, picking up a random book.  </p><p>“Youngkyun, don’t you think you’re being a little hars-“</p><p>“I think I’m just being harsh enough!”</p><p>“And <em>I </em>think you should give us a chance before turning us away without a second thought!”</p><p>He felt himself freeze up, unconsciously shrinking in on himself and moving further behind his cart. He had never heard Youngbin sound this <em>mad </em>(granted they had met each other face to face a total of two times, it was still scary). He almost didn’t notice Yeosang slipping away, leaving the brown paper bag on the table.</p><p>He took a quick look around the library, mentally cursing when he saw Youngbin had him caged in.</p><p>“You’re not running this time, we’re gonna talk about this whether you want to or not!” He spat, his eyes turning a shade darker. Youngkyun took a step back, maneuvering the cart slightly more in front of him.</p><p>When Yeosang came to see him he was shelving his last shelf, all the way in the back of the library. Where on one side you could walk in and get your book, but on the other side was a wall.</p><p>He sighed and rubbed his face, his hands meeting at the front again to fumble with his fingers.</p><p>“Look, I understand why you’re mad, but I had to tell them something or they would never stop chasing you! And honestly, I don’t think we’re the only ones in the wrong here.” Youngkyun looked up from his cart, sending him a scathing glare.</p><p>“<em>What </em>the fuck did I do wrong!?”</p><p>“You wouldn’t even talk to us! And everytime we went to look for you, you would run away!”</p><p>“I ran away because you lunatics would chase me the second you saw me!”</p><p>“I know for a fact that Inseong and Jaeyoon didn’t chase you the second they saw you. They tried to calmly talk to you but you pushed over a cart full of books and let them take the fall for it!”</p><p>“That’s not true! They ran in here and in a panic I pushed it over and ran!”</p><p>“Think back on it Youngkyun! And not the warped version you have conjured up in your head! <em>Think</em>!”</p><p>He was about to retort when he thought back to the encounter. Maybe they didn’t <em>necessarily </em>run in, but they were intimidating and he was already on his toes from the other encounters.</p><p>“W-well, you g-guys- you guys are more intimidating than you think!” He blurted out, slapping his mouth shut the second he said it.</p><p>Youngbin blanked, the both of them staring at each other with wide eyes, breathing heavily. Youngkyun huddled behind his cart, Youngbin rubbing his face in agitation.</p><p>“Okay, okay. What about this?-“ Youngkyun nodded slightly to show him he had his attention. “-How about you meet us in small groups, and I’ll be there for every meet up if you want me too, or you can bring someone along that you trust. You can decide where we meet and everything. Just… <em>please</em> don’t shut us out without giving us a chance.” He almost begged, looking at him with pleading eyes.</p><p>He sighed deeply, turning away from him towards the bookshelf. Was he being unfair towards them? He just didn’t want to be close to big shifters who didn’t earn his trust. He just didn’t understand why he was so frightened to the idea of being close to them (Yes you do-not now brain).</p><p>He rubbed his chest where he could feel a small ache, probably from the brand new bond. It wasn’t strong enough to sense emotions through, but it seemed that Youngbin was really torn up about this if he could feel it. He sighed before nodding.</p><p>Youngbin had a blinding smile on his face and took a step forward, arms spread. Youngkyun stopped him with a quiet hiss.</p><p>“But I have a few conditions!” He said, wagging his finger in front of him. Youngbin nodded, looking like he would do anything for him if he asked right now.</p><p>“First, no more interrupting my classes or mad chases around campus, I am <em>not</em> a fan of running!”</p><p>“Yes, yes, of course, no more chasing.”</p><p>“Second, no more trying to follow me home.”</p><p>“Wait, what?! They tried to-”</p><p>“And third, I will not agree to this if you try to bring the three savages all at once.”</p><p>Youngbin looked at him bemusement. “Just a word of advice, they don’t like being called savages, none of us do. And now I need the names of the ones who tried to follow you home.”</p><p>“Juho, Taeyang and Chanhee.” He gulped, a small part of him feeling bad about the fact he just snitched on them. But a bigger part of him being petty and thinking they deserved the scolding they were gonna get.</p><p>Youngbin nodded before taking his phone out. “Can I have your number? Then we can text where to meet up and who you want to meet first. Since I have to go and <em>talk</em> some sense into my pack members.”</p><p>Youngkyun hesitated for a second before taking the phone and putting his number in. If worse comes worst he could always block the number or buy a new phone.</p><p>Youngbin took back his phone with a happy smile, his fingers touching, and lingering, on Youngkyun’s, who quickly snatched his hand back. If he didn’t he would start purring (damn those sparks, they felt better than he expected) and he didn’t want to embarrass himself any further. He already bestowed the wrath of the nice librarian on two innocent guys.</p><p>Youngbin turned around and started walking away.</p><p>“Youngbin?”</p><p>He immediately turned around, looking at him with curious eyes. “What is it Youngkyun?”</p><p>“Did you tell them that I’m a…” He didn’t finish his sentence, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.</p><p>“I only told them you grew up in the wild, I figured you telling them that you’re a cat and all is your decision.”</p><p>He nodded to himself, a relieved smile on his face. Maybe Youngbin wasn’t as <em>much </em>of an idiot as he thought.</p><p>“I’ll see you sometime this week Youngkyunnie.” He waved with a smug smile.</p><p>He stared at the place where Youngbin just stood.</p><p>“Did he just call me…”</p><p>~</p><p>“Hwiyoung, you’re taking over Jinyoung after you come back from your break. He’s done for today.” Jae announced, walking into the small break room, grabbing one of the snacks the both of them had hidden here. Wonpil was trying to make them eat healthier, but Youngkyun would die before he let go of his Pringles.</p><p>Youngkyun nodded, chewing on the last piece of his devils cake. (Yes he knew he was weak, but it looked <em>so good</em>.)</p><p>“Jinyoung’s already written down every table number on the orders, so the only thing you have to do is bring them to the tables and then the usual. Don’t focus on the register and just keep taking orders, me and Younghyun got it. Even though the rush has slowed down, we’re still packed.” He warned him, pointing at him with a stern look before walking back to the front.</p><p>Youngkyun sighed, he normally didn’t work on Mondays, but it had been such a mad house that he was immediately ordered to help by Younghyun the second he walked through the door, and it didn’t help two people called in sick today. This was his first break ever since he came home at two o’clock, and it was somewhere around five now.</p><p>
  <em>(xxx) – xxx – xxxx</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Unknown:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hey Youngkyun, are you free tonight? They found out I talked to you and won’t stop bothering me. You can say no if you don’t want to so soon.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-X Youngbin</em>
</p><p>HwiHwi:</p><p>Even if I wanted to, I’m working at the café tonight. It was a madhouse today and rush is only slowing down now.</p><p>
  <em>Kim Youngbin:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Okay, some other time then. Fighting!</em>
</p><p>Youngkyun smiled faintly at his phone, leaning back in his chair. His fingers hovering over his keyboard, maybe if he brought one or two calmer ones ov-</p><p>“What are you smiling at?”</p><p>His head snapped up at the amused voice, his finger moving to the power button.</p><p>“Nothing hyung, shouldn’t you be in the kitchen?”</p><p>“Nah, Wonpil took over for me so I could take a short break.”</p><p>He nodded and eyed his phone again as Sungjin took a seat across from him. He brought his hands together under the table and started pulling on the fingers of his left hand.</p><p>“Hyung can I tell you something and trust you to keep it for yourself for a while?”</p><p>“Sure you can, but wouldn’t you be more comfortable with Jae?”</p><p>“If I tell Jae he will tell Younghyun, who will tell Dowoon, who will tell Wonpil and once Wonpil knows then everybody does because Wonpil can’t keep a secret to save his life.”</p><p>“We-well you’re not wrong.” He chuckled.</p><p>“So what do you wanna tell me.” He smiled warmly at him, making Youngkyun relax slightly.</p><p>“Okay, but don’t interrupt me until I’m done talking okay?” At Sungjin’s nod he took a deep breath. “Okay, so you remember the pack Younghyun complained to you about last week? Yeah? Well, turns out they’re my mates and they’ve been trying to get in… contact with me but went about the complete wrong way. So the pack leader came to talk to me yesterday night, the one you saw me following upstairs, and he gave me a reason why they were so anxious to meet me. But they’re all big shifters and honestly some of them scare the shit outta me, and I agreed to meet them one by one but I… I just feel iffy about it. They have <em>real </em>savages in their pack and they can’t seem to control their urges around me and…” He trailed off, not knowing how to continue. He felt his shoulders get lighter the more he talked, maybe this was bothering him more than he noticed.</p><p>Sungjin didn’t interrupt him once, even though his facial expressions changed drastically throughout the little summary of his very eventful week.</p><p>“Did one of them hurt, like physically hurt you on purpose?” He asked seriously, his ears standing upright.</p><p>“No, but they did chase me throughout the whole school more than once.” He chuckled miserably.</p><p>“Do you want my opinion on this, or did you just need a listening ear?”</p><p>“Yes <em>please</em>.”</p><p>Sungjin chuckled slightly, one of his hands grabbing a hold of Youngkyun’s, effectively stopping his fiddling, which had gotten quite painful without him realizing it.</p><p>“Hwiyoung, I know you have your reservations about big shifters and especially savages. but if these guys <em>are </em>your mates, you should at the very least give them a chance to prove themselves. I mean you gave us the chance to prove ourselves- don’t give me that look, I know you just did it for Jae- but we proved ourselves, your friend Hyunjin and his pack proved themselves.”</p><p>“But none of them were savages.” Youngkyun mumbled grumpily. Sungjin smiled at him knowingly.</p><p>“There’s more behind this isn’t there.”</p><p>Youngkyun sighed deeply. Sungjin squeezed his hand in support.</p><p>“I know you’ve heard the stories from Jae, from when I started living with him and how bad I was. And… and I’m just worried that if I let them in and grow to care for them, maybe even love them, something will go wrong or they will prove to me that you <em>can’t</em> trust savages. I’m just- I’m just afraid it will destroy me, and this time I might not be able to come back from it…” He murmured quietly.</p><p>“Oh <em>Hwiyoung</em>,-“ He leaned forward, grabbing both of his hands in his and squeezing them tightly. “Hwiyoung, please don’t let your past define you. You’ve grown so much and managed to let so many people in. please <em>don’t </em>let your past, that <em>beast</em>, ruin your future. Just give them a chance, and if you still don’t like it just know that you always have us okay?”</p><p>He nodded with sniffle. Sungjin smiled at him with a sad smile, leaning forward a little more to bump their foreheads together, drawing a wet chuckle from Youngkyun.</p><p>~</p><p>“You gotta be shitting me.”</p><p>Chanhee smiled innocently at Youngkyun’s ‘I’m so done with this’-look.</p><p>“I thought I told Youngbin I was busy tonight.” He put his little notebook back in the front pocket of his baby blue apron, the words Day6 printed on it in cursive black.</p><p>“Who said I’m visiting you? Maybe I’m just trying out a new café with good reviews.” Chanhee sassed, looking back at the menu he was holding.</p><p>“Okay then, <em>costumer</em>, would you like to order?”</p><p>“What do you recommend?”</p><p>Youngkyun had two options here. One was that he would suggest the thing <em>he</em> liked best on the menu, <em>or</em> he could recommend Dowoon’s usual. Which only he liked but his mates were too smitten with him to actually get it off the menu.</p><p>“I would recommend the Dowoon Special, I have heard some very good things about it.”</p><p>“Then I will take one Dowoon Special please.”</p><p>Youngkyun let out his smirk when he turned around, ripping the paper with the order off and giving it to Jae, who would give it to Sungjin. He took a quick peek at the paper before doing a double-check.</p><p>“Uhh, Hwi, you sure you got this right?”</p><p>“He asked for a recommendation.”</p><p>“You are the reason cats are called petty.”</p><p>“Don’t act like you didn’t invent the word.”</p><p>~</p><p>Youngkyun smirked happily as he put Chanhee’s meal on a tray, moving through the double doors to the seating area.</p><p>Chanhee looked up with a smile, which quickly turned into a grimace when he set the tray down.</p><p>“<em>What </em>is this?” Chanhee asked in the nicest way he could.</p><p>“This is the Dowoon Special you ordered, two banana and cheese toasties’ and as dessert ice-cream and pickles. It’s my brothers favorite meal, hope you enjoy it.”</p><p>Chanhee gave him what was probably meant to be a smile, but came out as a grimace.</p><p>“If you need anything else just give a yell okay?” He smiled his perfected costumers smile, turning around and walking back to the bar.</p><p>~</p><p>He was busy taking orders and cleaning tables while keeping an eye on Chanhee, who for his credit, actually was trying to eat the whole thing. At one point he felt slightly bad, before he remembered the chasing accident, and the following home accident.</p><p>At the moment he was cleaning a table near the panther, who was almost done with his ice-cream. He saw someone walking up the table but didn’t really pay attention to it, his attention being drawn to a couple ready to order. Right as he was about to walk over he smelt a spike in Chanhee’s scent, the sweet chocolate scent turning slightly bitter.</p><p>He signaled Dowoon to take the couple’s order, who looked confused but picked up a little notebook nonetheless, and turned his head to the side, sneaking a quick look over his shoulder. His mouth pursed in annoyance when he spotted the figure of Zhong Chenle, he was a good kid, only he could be incredible bratty and annoying once he believed you ‘wronged’ him. And it didn’t help that the lion had a very big pack backing him up. He slowly started moving closer, playing with the rag in his hands, catching the end of Chenle sentence.</p><p>“-only want an apology, and our packs won’t have to fight this out for us.”</p><p>Chanhee chuckled, pointing his spoon at him. “I don’t owe you an apology Zhong, so don’t expect one. And if you were a real lion, you wouldn’t hide behind your pack, but fight your own battles. Now run along cub, I’m eating.”</p><p>Chenle looked at him in shock and started growling lowly. Chanhee was about to stand up, his eyes already gaining a greenish hue.</p><p>“You know you guys can’t fight inside, café policy.” Youngkyun quickly cut in, pushing Chanhee back in his seat. His tail twisted in slight anxiety under his white button up, he didn’t want Chanhee to cause a scene in his brother’s café.  </p><p>“This is none of your business Park, go away.”</p><p>“Then we can take it outside.”</p><p>The two predators glared at each other, Chanhee trying to stand up again. Youngkyun pushed him back in his seat and this time kept an hand on his shoulder, giving a warning squeeze. Younghyun and Dowoon send him worried glances, he simply shook his head, silently telling them he could handle it.</p><p>“I think it’s about time you left, Chenle.” Youngkyun suggested.</p><p>“You can’t make me leave Park! You have nothing on me!” Chenle gloated.</p><p>“September 19<sup>th </sup>2019, around 2 o’cloc-“</p><p>“Okay! You do have something, I’m leaving already!” He quickly turned on his heel, making his escape.</p><p>“And Chenle, please keep your pack out of this, or I’ll have to tell them what you and Jisung did in the laboratory last week.” He turned pale and quickly nodded, almost running out the door.</p><p>He let out a tired sigh. “He’s a good kid, but he could use a lesson or two in manners.” Youngkyun decided, turning around and starting to walk away.</p><p>A hand grabbed his gently, with just enough force to turn him around, but light enough that he could free himself.</p><p>“Please sit with me.” His eyes were his original chocolate brown again, but his scent was still bitter.</p><p>He was about to say no, when he remembered Sungjin’s words. He sighed and nodded, gently shaking his hand free and taking a seat opposite of him.</p><p>An awkward silence soon enveloped them, Chanhee still trying to calm himself down and Youngkyun struggling to find words.</p><p>“So, how was your meal?”</p><p>He really was a petty bastard wasn’t he?</p><p>He heard a slight chuckle. “I didn’t think you were this petty, you kinda remind of someone I used to know in that regard. Looks like an angel but behaves like a little devil.”</p><p>Youngkyun let a small slip onto his face. “You <em>do</em> know I’m taller than you right?”</p><p>Chanhee was about to retort, a teasing light in his eyes when-</p><p>“Hwiyoung, you can just keep talking to your friend, the three of us can handle it now.” Dowoon informed him while walking past their table.</p><p>He nodded to Dowoon and turned back to Chanhee to ask what he was about to say, when he saw how pale he suddenly got, looking at him like he had seen ghost.</p><p>“Chanhee are you okay?” He waved a hand in front of his face, panicking slightly when he got no reaction.  </p><p>“Chanhee? You still with me?” He quickly moved to sit next to him, gently shaking his shoulder.</p><p>He was still staring at the spot Youngkyun just vacated, not moving and barely breathing.</p><p>“Please don’t go in shock or something, I don’t know how to han-“</p><p>“Youngkyun?” Came his quiet and empty voice.</p><p>His head snapped towards Chanhee so fast he swear he heard something crack in his neck, staring right in his eyes (he would curse himself out for this later, he first needed to get Chanhee back to normal working order).</p><p>“Can you take a look at my right ear, near the top. I think Chenle tried to flick me there.” He said in that same voice. </p><p>Youngkyun looked at him weirdly but nonetheless looked at his ear when he bowed his head, and promptly froze when he looked at it.</p><p>From far away it wasn’t visible, his ears partly hidden by his hair. But there was small bite out of his ear, right near the top, like a kitten had taken a nip out of it. He blinked at it for a few seconds. His mind refusing admit the truth that was right in front of him.</p><p>Chanhee tilted his head up again, looking at Youngkyun with suspiciously wet eyes.</p><p>Youngkyun started shaking his head moving backwards, almost falling out of the booth if it weren’t for Chanhee’s fast reflexes.</p><p>“No, no, no, I-I saw you leave, you left to protect us together with your parents!” He whispered, not being able to raise his voice much higher, his vision getting blurry.</p><p>“It’s me Hwiyoungie, I told you I’d find you when everything was over, didn’t I?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>…</p>
<p>“Is that your hoodie?”</p>
<p>“I thought we were following him?!”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's the new chapter, hope you guys like it!! Some exciting things are happening!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Soo… Chanhee slept over.</p>
<p>(Yes he knew he was weak, but Chanhee wouldn’t let go of him and he very maybe also didn’t want him to leave)</p>
<p>He snuggled a little closer to his pillow, at that perfect state where his mind was partially awake but his body wasn’t yet and he felt very warm and content.</p>
<p>‘Did I even tell anyone Chanhee slept over?’ He wondered sleepily, letting out a lazy hiss when he felt Chanhee moving closer. He appreciated his personal space thank you very much.</p>
<p>“<em>Wake up Hiwy</em>- WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?” Jae screeched when he saw Chanhee, doing a fierce karate chop to try and intimidate him. Chanhee only blinked at him.</p>
<p>They both stared lazily from the bed as Sungjin came running in, armed with a frying pan. “What’s with Hwiyoun?!- oh. Is that one of your <em>new</em> friends?” He received a nod, ignoring Jae’s befuddled look.</p>
<p>“Alright, I’ll put another plate on the table then.” He turned to Jae and gave him a annoyed glare. “One of these days I won’t come running when you start screeching, you know?”</p>
<p>“And <em>that’s </em>the day something will actually happen.”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>The morning was eventful. Apparently Jae’s screaming woke up Wonpil and Dowoon, who fell asleep on the couch after an impromptu movie night, and Younghyun dropped an egg and Jae judged him for it when he found out. And as cherry on top, Sungjin and Younghyun had to herd the others away so Youngkyun and Chanhee could eat their breakfast and get ready for school in peace.</p>
<p>“What did the others say when you said you stayed over here?” Youngkyun asked absentmindedly, looking for a particular textbook he used to study in the weekend, he could swear he left the damn thing on his bed.</p>
<p>He had noticed Chanhee’s phone going over multiple times last night, but he ignored it and eventually put it on silent so it didn’t interrupt their emotional little reunion.</p>
<p>He paused, in the middle of pulling on his black zip up hoodie. “They didn’t say anything.”</p>
<p>He looked up from where he was looking under his bed with an raised eyebrow. “Really now?”</p>
<p>“Yes, they’re not as noisy as you think they are!”</p>
<p>“They bothered Youngbin over just talking to me for about two times now, somehow I think they’re even noisier than I think they are.”</p>
<p>Chanhee glowered at him, sitting down on the bed to tie his shoelaces. “Seems like even in the morning nothing escapes you, huh?”</p>
<p>“No, it doesn’t.”</p>
<p>Chanhee huffed, pocketing his phone.</p>
<p>“You didn’t tell them, huh?”</p>
<p>“Nope, I ignored them, so take your time. If we get there too early they might try and chase the both of us.”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“I slept over at a new friends house and kinda lost track of time, sorry hyung. Can you please take my schoolbag with you to school and leave it in my locker? Thanks!” Youngkyun looked up from Chanhee’s phone with unimpressed eyes.</p>
<p>“If Youngbin actually believes that he’s an even bigger idiot that I thought.”</p>
<p>“What?! It could be possible!”</p>
<p>“Not after your little ‘chase Youngkyun all around campus!’- game, everybody’s either scared or weary of you now.” Youngkyun laughed.</p>
<p>Chanhee pouted, snatching his phone back.</p>
<p>Youngkyun sighed, feeling happy that he and Chanhee reconnected so easily. He worried there would be awkwardness, or that Chanhee might have changed drastically from the boy he knew when he was young. But it seemed the only that had changed is that he had gotten more sarcastic, almost as much as him. Oh yeah, and Youngkyun was taller now, that fact should not be forgotten.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun?-“ At school everyone called him Younkyun, he didn’t want random people calling him his nickname, it had a lot of meaning for him. “Why don’t you wanna meet with Sanghyuk, Taeyang and Seokwoo? I got Youngbin to tell me what your conditions were and I don’t get it.”</p>
<p>He really had to stop letting his guard down around these people, this is the second time he choked around them now. Luckily this time there were no cookies involved.</p>
<p>“I-I just… it just seems like those three don’t know how to control their urges around me, so if I’m going to meet them I want some sort of supervision to make sure they don’t do anything. And I heard the stories about how the wilder ones try to ‘take care’ of their weak links, and I am <em>not</em> up for that, I can take care of myself perfectly fine. And honestly, I wouldn’t even have thought about meeting any of you anymore if Youngbin hadn’t cornered and yelled at me in the library.”</p>
<p>“Youngbin <em>cornered </em>and <em>yelled</em> at you in the library?! You must’ve really pissed hyung off then, normally he’s really laid-back and rarely even raises his voice.” Youngkun chuckled at the fact <em>that’s </em>the part Chanhee chose to focus on.</p>
<p>Youngkyun let out a barely noticeable sigh, relieved Chanhee believed his little white lie. Was it even a white lie if you told part of the truth? Maybe a half lie or half-truth. He’ll figure it out later.</p>
<p>“Hey Kyun, wanna wear my hoodie today?”</p>
<p>“Why? I’m not cold…?” He trailed off, looking down on his thin dark blue long sleeved shirt. This shirt was awesome because it perfectly matched his favorite beanie.</p>
<p>“Well then… you can have it for when you get cold sometime during day!”</p>
<p>“You want me to lug around a hoodie just for the fact I <em>could</em> get cold sometime today? You do know I have friends who would give me their jackets if I asked them, right?”</p>
<p>“Yes, but mine matches your outfit!” There was a faint red dusting his cheeks. Youngkyun smirked slightly.</p>
<p>“Are all big animals so possessive or is it just you?”</p>
<p>“Shut up you petty kitty-cat!”</p>
<p>“What did you just call me you overgrown toenail!?”</p>
<p>And it seemed their insults and banter didn’t change very much either.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>It was safe to say Hyunjin all but screamed when he smelled the scent on the hoodie.</p>
<p>“Just last week I had to help you escape and now you’re wearing his hoodie, are cats supposed to be this indecisive?” Jisung complained loudly.</p>
<p>Hyunjin slapped him with his textbook while Youngkyun threw a pen at him, Yeosang opting to just raise one judging eyebrow. It wasn’t really a secret that he was cat, but he only really told people who out right asked him.</p>
<p>“No but really, how is the situation with them now?” Yeosang asked.</p>
<p>“I don’t actually know…”</p>
<p>He was met with three deadpan stares.</p>
<p>“What?! It’s gotten kinda complicated now!”</p>
<p>“How is it complicated? You met your old bestie who also turns out to be your mate, I’d say this is a pretty good ‘situation’.” Jisung commented, making air quotes with his fingers.</p>
<p>“You forgot the three savages who chased him all around the campus.”</p>
<p>“<em>Thank you </em>Yeosangie!”</p>
<p>“I would find it fun if my mates chased me around campus though, I like a good game.”</p>
<p>“Same.”</p>
<p>The wolf and squirrel were met with two judging looks.</p>
<p>“You cats are never up for anything fun.” Jisung complained.</p>
<p>“We <em>are</em>, if we get to decide which game or if we’re in the right mood.” Yeosang commented, taking notes.</p>
<p>It really was wonder they didn’t get scolded by their professor yet.</p>
<p>“So you’re never up for anything spontaneous.” Hyunjin corrected.</p>
<p>Jisung and Hyunjin were sent out of the classroom for somehow breaking two chairs, leaving two smirking cats behind.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“-And Jaebum is apparently ‘seeing’ Jihyo now.” Youngkyun snorted.</p>
<p>“But isn’t he mated to Jackson Wang and his loud group? And isn’t Jihyo mated to a pack also?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, and the worst thing is people actually believe it!”</p>
<p>Yeosang let out a loud laugh, the both of them walking leisurely with their arms linked. They had a gap hour in their schedule and break right after and were looking for a place to sit, or preferably lie down, so Youngkyun could tell him all the new rumors and laugh at the outrageous ones.</p>
<p>“<em>So, </em>you and Chanhee, huh?” Yeosang wiggled his eyebrows.</p>
<p>He pushed him jokingly, letting out a loud groan. “Please stop, Hyunjin will never let me hear the end of it already.”</p>
<p>Yeosang laughed lightly, pushing him back. He pulled him along outside where the two found a nice spot in the grass right under a tree, here they could sunbathe and nap in the shade if they wanted.</p>
<p>“I’m serious though, what are you going to do?” He looked at him worriedly.</p>
<p>Youngkyun let out a big sigh and let himself fall back on the soft grass dramatically, these shifter only schools were amazing, everything was animal friendly here.</p>
<p>“I honestly don’t know, I was going to ghost them if one of the savages tried something again. But with Chanhee… I really don’t want to lose him again.” He sighed.</p>
<p>Yeosang hummed in thought, laying across his stomach, the weight reassuring and grounding him a little. This would have been so much more comfortable if they shifted, but alas, cats were rare now and they both wanted to stay on the down-low. The only reason Yeosang walked around with his tail and ears out is because he had a loving (and big) pack backing him up, Youngkyun had a loving pack too, but they already graduated. So beanies and looping his tail around his waist it is.</p>
<p>“You know… you could always just give it a shot, I mean I didn’t want to give Wooyoungie and San a shot at first because they were too loud, and look where I am now.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but none of your mates were savages. And you heard the stories about them, them never letting their mate out of their sight, treating them like they’re babies and can’t take care of themselves, even going as far as to lock them up to keep them out of harms way. You know that’s not me.”   </p>
<p>Yeosang sighed. “You’re technically right, and no ones blaming you for being cautious. But how can you say that they’re like that when you’ve never even properly met them?”</p>
<p>Youngkyun just stayed silent, mulling over his options as a peaceful silence fell upon the two cats. The both of them lazing in the sun, dozing off.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun?”</p>
<p>He hummed to show he had heard him.</p>
<p>“You know we won’t seriously judge whatever you choose to do right, we always have your back. Me, Hyunjin, our boys and your brothers?”</p>
<p>He chuckled slightly. “Yes I know Sangie, now do you wanna nap or hear some scalding tea?”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“Yunho just asked where I am, do you wanna go meet up with them?” Yeosang questioned, slowly untangling himself from Youngkyun and reaching for his bag.</p>
<p>“Nah, I’m good. I have to go to the library soon anyways.”</p>
<p>“You only do that for the extra credit you don’t need and for the fact that you can do pretty much anything you want there.” Yeosang laughed.</p>
<p>“And, I always get my best gossip from that place. You won’t believe how many people come to the library to tell each other secrets because they think nobody is paying attention.”</p>
<p>“You sly little shit.”</p>
<p>“You love me and my gossip though.”</p>
<p>“That I do, see you later Kyunnie.”</p>
<p>“See yah!”</p>
<p>They waved goodbye, Youngkyun not moving from his very comfortable position in the grass. He was with his head under the tree, so he didn’t get the sun in his eyes, with his bag under his head while he was up to his waist in the sun. Giving him a toasty feeling. Chanhee’s hoodie was wrapped around his waist, it was actually quite a comfortable hoodie. (If Chanhee forgot to ask it back he wouldn’t remind him, just saying)</p>
<p>He slightly tensed when he heard footsteps grow closer. He swore if this was another student trying to get all the good gossip from him <em>again</em>, he was gonna scream. He only knew all of the gossip because he wanted to and not because he wanted to tell everyone! When would people finally understand that?</p>
<p>The footsteps came to halt a few feet away from him, he subtly sniffed the air but didn’t recognize the scent. But the guy wasn’t wearing any scent repressors, so he was either a strong individual, or had a strong pack, maybe both.</p>
<p>“Are you Park Youngkyun?”</p>
<p>He opened one eye, seeing a tall guy stand in front of him. He had yet black hair and dark eyes, a black beanie on his head so he couldn’t see any potential ears or tail that could give away what kind of animal he was. He didn’t have a Korean face so he guessed he was one of the students who came from overseas. All in all he looked quite plain, someone you would pass by on the street and immediately forget about.</p>
<p>“Depends on who’s asking.”</p>
<p>“I’m Jack, Jack Johnson. And I need to know something about Park Youngkyun.”</p>
<p>The hairs on his tail began to stand upright, but he made sure his scent didn’t change, even on his suppressors he was still cautious. He still had the upper hand in this conversation.</p>
<p>“I can pass on a message if you’d like?”</p>
<p>He was slowly starting the get up, his bag in his hands. There was something off about this guy. He was obviously not wearing suppressors, otherwise he wouldn’t even be able smell him from that far. But he couldn’t distinguish what kind of animal he was either, while you couldn’t exactly pin point from scent alone what animal another shifter was, you normally could smell if they were feline or <em>something</em> at least. But he got nothing off this guy.</p>
<p>“I would rather speak to him himself, if you could point me in the right direction that would be appreciated.” Jack smiled.</p>
<p>Yeah… that wasn’t gonna happen buddy.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid he already left campus, and I’m not sure he even has class tomorrow. If you have an urgent message I could pass it on for you.” He was slowly inching towards the double doors that led into the school, the guy following him.</p>
<p>Jack laughed slightly, looking amused, before he made a grab for his beanie. Youngkyun quickly ducked out of the way before storming through the double doors, heading for the cafeteria. He cursed when he heard heavy footsteps following him.</p>
<p>He should’ve known! The guy had no particular scent and was wearing a beanie for a similar reason he was, to hide the fact he was a human.</p>
<p>Although it wasn’t necessarily forbidden for humans to enter campus ground, it was not encouraged. Since most shifters here had bad interactions and pasts with humans one way or another, it was for their own safety that they didn’t enter campus grounds.</p>
<p>He hissed when he heard the footsteps catching up, the guy would catch up with him soon. He cursed the fact that he was an ambush predator and therefore didn’t have the stamina to keep running at this speed for long.</p>
<p>He panicked when he felt fingertips lightly skim over his shirt, right where his tail was. He took a sharp turn and promptly ran into a familiar firm chest, barely keeping his footing. (he hoped they wouldn’t make a habit of this, this was the second time he ran into his chest and his nose was starting to hurt.)</p>
<p>He looked at the surprised faces of Chanhee and Taeyang. He didn’t waste time and simply jumped behind the both of them, hiding behind the taller figure of Taeyang as Jack rounded the corner.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun? What are you d-?”</p>
<p>Their attention immediately shifted to the newcomer, both their faces changing from confused amusement to scary serious immediately.</p>
<p>“What’s going on?” Chanhee questioned, stepping closer to Taeyang, effectively hiding Youngkyun behind them.</p>
<p>“I was just trying to ask this guy a question and suddenly he takes off!” Jack said indignantly, crossing his arms. Youngkyun peeked over Taeyang’s shoulder with a glare. Taeyang tried to subtly shoulder him back into his former position, but he held onto his shoulder to keep his glare trained on Jack.</p>
<p>“Yeah, and you tried to rip my beanie off <em>and</em> tried to hide the fact that you’re a <em>human</em>.” He spat, finally letting Taeyang pushing him behind him again, who give him a quiet warning growl that obviously said <em>stay behind or else you idiot</em>. Normally he would fight him on that, but now he would let them take care of it, it looked like they had it under control anyways. (sure and it isn’t because you’re sc- <em>Shut up </em>brain!)</p>
<p>Taeyang let out another low growl at his words, this time loud enough for Jack to hear who paled slightly.</p>
<p>“Tha-that’s not true, come on guys. You know how he is! He runs away from every little thing like a baby!” He laughed nervously. The wolf and panther didn’t even crack smile.</p>
<p>“As far as I know, he only runs when he feels threatened. And Youngkyunnie here doesn’t lie, at least not to me. So tell us again why we should believe your word over his.” Chanhee said, his tone rough.</p>
<p>Jack gulped, about to open his mouth.</p>
<p>“And explain to me why you’re even here anyway, <em>humans</em> aren’t welcome here.” Taeyang growled out. Jack turned even paler. Taeyang looked seconds away from attacking so Youngkyun grabbed onto his shirt. (he heard they were on supervision already about the chasing thing.)</p>
<p>He looked at them for a second before turning around and bolting away.</p>
<p>Taeyang was about to chase after him, but Youngkyun’s grip on his shirt stopped him, though he never looked away from the direction Jack fled. Chanhee turned to face him.</p>
<p>“You okay? Who was that guy anyway?” He asked, obviously concerned. He quickly give him a look over to see if he could find any abvious injuries.</p>
<p>“I’m fine, a little winded, but fine. I don’t know who that guy was, I only know that I was outside napping with Yeosang and suddenly that guy is there and tries to snatch my beanie.” He breathed out, his breath slowly returning to him, leaning against the wall behind him. Damn, he really needed to start working out.</p>
<p>Chanhee looked like he wanted to push it, but choose to drop it. Knowing Youngkyun wouldn’t say anything in a space where everyone could hear them, he was <em>that</em> paranoid.  </p>
<p>“We were actually looking for you, we were wondering if you wanted to have lunch with us!”</p>
<p>Youngkyun smiled at his enthusiasm and felt slightly bad he had to let him down, but he had duties.</p>
<p>“Sorry Chanhee, but my shift in the library begins soon. Raincheck?” Chanhee nodded dejectedly.</p>
<p>He was about to turn around when his gaze shot to Taeyang, who never looked away from where Jack had ran away, his face still set in that scary frown.</p>
<p>“Hey Taeyang-“ He immediately had his attention. “Thanks for that.” <em>Maybe you’re not as bad as I thought…</em> the words went unsaid.</p>
<p>Taeyang nodded with a bright smile, which Youngkyun didn’t see because he was speed walking away to the library.</p>
<p>The two watched him go with amused looks.</p>
<p>“We’re following him right?”</p>
<p>“You bet your ass we are, cub.”</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>“Is that <em>your </em>hoodie?”</p>
<p>“I thought we were following him?!”</p>
<p>~ </p>
<p>He made a quick detour to the main office to report Jack. He was surprised that they didn’t have the slightest clue who this guy was, normally this university was praised for its security. They had him watch the video footage with the head of security to see if he could point him out, when he did they thanked and apologized to him, assuring they would catch this guy if he stepped foot onto the grounds again.</p>
<p>He was now walking back to the library, feeling watched. When the big doors of the campus library came into the view he rushed to the door and stepped inside, immediately walking over to his cart, hoping the old librarian didn’t see or hear him come in. He hated worrying her.</p>
<p>“Youngkyunnie, why are you so late? Did you get held up in class again?” A frail voice called out.</p>
<p>“No Miss Kim, there was a small problem but it’s taken care of now. Don’t worry.” He reassured her.</p>
<p>“I hope it weren’t those two tall young men from last time, poor Kihyun spent about an hour rearranging the books and shelving them.”</p>
<p>Time to do some damage control. “Actually about that… I think that might have been my fault. They startled me and I might’ve pushed the cart, not them.” He said with his most pitiful voice. Just because he was doing some damage control didn’t mean he had to lose miss Kim’s favor.</p>
<p>“It’s okay Younkyunnie! I would’ve startled too! Thank you for telling me, now I don’t have to ban them.” She smiled before returning to the main desk. He let out a relieved sigh, taking his cart and pushing it to his section of the library.</p>
<p>He quickly settled in his usual rhythm of putting books away and helping other students find their books, all the while keeping an eye on the door. He would not be caught off guard by that stupid little human again.</p>
<p>He picked up a book from his cart, just having shown a new student the way to some biology book. He immediately frowned when he saw the damn book. The books itself wasn’t so bad, something about a dystopian world where a whole generation got powers, but this particular book was always on the top shelf of the highest one in the whole damn library. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t be able to put it there, he was nimble enough, but he would have to climb the shelf and hope he wouldn’t fall. Because for some reason all the shelves here were slippery as fuck. And the stool was of no use, even with it he was still a few inches short.</p>
<p>He sighed and walked over to the monster shelf, hyping himself up quietly.</p>
<p>“Okay Hwi, you can do this! You used to climb higher than all the other kittens and never broke a paw. You were the youngest one there to ever catch a bird as first prey. This is nothing!” He whispered quietly to himself, hoping no one heard him. He would die of embarrassment instead of falling from this damn shelf.</p>
<p>Right as he was about to put his foot on the first shelf the main doors of the library slammed open, making the students look up in irritation and miss Kim side eye the door.</p>
<p>“Park Youngkyun! Why didn’t you tell us you got attacked on campus?!” A short guy shouted as he walked towards him, his round brownish ears upright.</p>
<p>“Dawon! Lower your voice, we’re in the library!” Youngbin hissed at him, while a tall blonde haired guy hit him in the back of the head, white fox ears barely poking out of his hair.</p>
<p> “I’m sorry Kyun, me and Bin tried to stop them. But when Taeyang here told them how we met you earlier, there was no stopping them.” Chanhee apologized, sending a small glare at Taeyang for being the reason his friend was most likely overwhelmed right now.</p>
<p>“Then what was I supposed to do?! Just ignore the fact a <em>human </em>chased our mate on campus, maybe even tried to hurt him!” He snapped back.</p>
<p>“You could’ve waited until we were home…”</p>
<p>“Who’s side are you on, Seokwoo?!”</p>
<p>“Okay!-“ Everyone’s silenced at Youngbin voice. “How about we ask him what happened, you noisy people, and then leave him to do his job in peace? And we do this quietly of course.” He said, a creepily calm smile on his face.</p>
<p>Everyone sheepishly nodded, except for Youngkyun, who was still clutching his book, looking wide-eyed between them.</p>
<p>“Alright, Youngkyun? Please tell us what happened.” The blonde from before smiled at him, his white fox ears matching quite well with his hair.</p>
<p>“Well, not that this is any of your business-“ The dark haired tiger slapped a hand over Dawon’s mouth while gripping onto Taeyang’s shoulder, hard. “but a human somehow got past the university’s security and was looking for me, but I didn’t tell  him I was the one he was looking for because he gave me an off vibe. And apparently my stalling to get to the door took too long so he tried to rip my beanie off. Then I ran off and happened to run into Chanhee and Taeyang, who helped me out. But I could’ve taken care of it myself.”</p>
<p>They looked at him before looking at each other and then back at him.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’re not leaving you alone anymore.” Dawon stated matter-of-factly. Youngkyun’s hair on his tail immediately rose.</p>
<p>“I could make up a schedule for this.” The black haired tiger volunteered.</p>
<p>“We would need a copy of his schedule though.” The dimpled one trailed off, his thick, dotted tail swishing behind him in thought.</p>
<p>“Uhm guys, why don’t you as-“ Chanhee tried to cut in, smelling his friends scent souring, a annoyed glare on his face.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun, text me your schedule as soon as possible alright. We’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.” Youngbin reassured him.</p>
<p>“Guys-“</p>
<p>“You got nothing to worry about anymore Youngkyun, your mates are here.” The tallest one smiled warmly at him.</p>
<p>Chanhee face-palmed.</p>
<p>
  <em>Oh hell no.</em>
</p>
<p>“And who said I was okay with that?” He asked in a calm voice, the boys around him finally smelling the sour scent emanating from him.</p>
<p>“How can you <em>not </em>be, you were terrified earlier-“ Youngkyun cut Taeyang off.</p>
<p>“Was I panicked? Yes. Will it happen again? No. You wanna know why? Because I already took care of it.” He snapped, putting the book he was still holding on a random shelf and marching back to his cart.</p>
<p>The pack stared dumbfounded at the spot where Youngkyun just stood, Chanhee snickering at them.</p>
<p>“Yah! We’re your mates you little shit! You listen to us when we’re trying to protect you!” Dawon shouted, marching after him, Taeyang and the tall one right on his tail. Youngkyun ignored them.</p>
<p>The rest immediately followed him, trying to get the three to calm down and failing.</p>
<p>“Yah! Look at us when we’re talking to you!” Dawon slightly growled as Taeyang forcefully turned him around, crowding him against his cart with a near painful grip on his wrist.</p>
<p>He hissed lowly, his ears back and trying not to duck down. While he knew they probably wouldn’t seriously hurt him, his instincts still registered them as bigger and stronger predators.</p>
<p>The tall one seemed to be trying to push Dawon back with the help of the tiger. Chanhee was yelling at Taeyang, pulling his ear while Youngbin, the fox and the dimpled one tried to pull him off and calm the both of them down. They were still failing.</p>
<p>“Let go of me you-“</p>
<p>“Let go of my little brother you shit eating sorry excuse of a wolf!”</p>
<p>All of them looked up at the sound of his brother’s voice, seeing the whole pack standing there. And they looked quite angry, even Wonpil.</p>
<p>Youngkyun quickly took advantage of their distraction, pulling himself free and rushing to his brothers awaiting arms, who immediately pulled the both of them behind Sungjin and Younghyun. The wolf and the bear looked ready to kill a man.</p>
<p>Dowoon and Wonpil tried their best to help Jae calm Youngkyun down, who just now realized how heavy his breathing was. He slowly felt the panic and fear he didn’t realize he had die down the longer he was in brothers arms. He pushed his face into his brothers neck, close to his scent gland.</p>
<p>“Not that I’m not glad you’re here, but why are you?” He questioned quietly.</p>
<p>“We just got the call that a human chased you on campus, so we closed the café for today to come and get you.-“ Younghyun raised his voice for the last part of the sentence. “Seems like we got here just in time.”</p>
<p>“Sirs, I am so sorry you had to see that! I apologize for my packmates, we were just worried about our newest mate-“</p>
<p>“Wait what?!”</p>
<p>“<em>Mates?!” </em></p>
<p>“Thanks for that.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun cursed quietly.</p>
<p>“We’ll talk about this when we get home, you hear me.” He nodded at Jae’s voice.</p>
<p>“You who just spoke, are you the leader?” Sungjin spoke.</p>
<p>“Yes sir.”</p>
<p>“Then I hope you understand that we won’t feel comfortable leaving <em>our </em>Youngkyun in your care. As a pack leader you’re supposed to be able to control your pack, and as long as you can’t do that you will not be able to see him with our blessing.” Sungjin stated coldly.</p>
<p>“Who do you th-“ Dawon was cut off when Chanhee pulled his ear, glaring at him angrily. The jaguar and fox held Taeyang back while the tiger took care of the tall one.</p>
<p>“I understand sir, but I hope you understand that we will try anything to get Youngkyun to trust us. But we’ll focus first on correcting our behavior, so that he will actually want to be around us. But do not mistake us, we will try to see him again, with or without your blessing.” Youngbin said, going toe to toe with other bear hybrid.</p>
<p>“Then until we meet next time, hope you have better control over pack then, <em>leader</em>.” Sungjin sniped with that same cold smile. He turned around and wrapped an arm around Jae, and Youngkyun who was still in brothers arms, and turned them around and walked away. Youngkyun looked back right as the doors closed, and saw a very angry miss Kim walking towards them, and a very angry Youngbin and Chanhee turning towards them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So what did you guys think about the reactions, was it justified, was it too extreme? And how did you like the protective brothers appearence?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. I Love My Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Hwiyoung, just because they’re your mates doesn’t mean you’re going to end up with them. Are they easier to fall in love with? Yes. Are they your endgame? No! That’s up to nobody but you Hwi.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I can’t believe you would do this to me!”</p>
<p>Younkyun was being dramatic, he knew. But he spend about the whole day laying in this particular spot on the big couch, it was perfectly adjusted to his body and very comfortable, getting up meant he would have to start <em>all</em> over.</p>
<p>“Don’t be so dramatic you little shit! If we could send anyone else we would but everyone is downstairs, working!”</p>
<p>“But I’m injured! I’m wounded and I require attention and rest!”</p>
<p>“You’re walking about a block to the corner store to get some ingredients for dinner tonight! Don’t act like I’m sending you off to your death!” Younghyun was looking progressively more aggravated the longer this conversation went on.</p>
<p>He let out a long, drawn out groan. “But what if <em>they </em>are waiting and biding their time outside the café, just waiting for a chance to pick me off the street?” He knew he was grasping at straws here, but he was lazy as hell and he wouldn’t leave his spot without a fight.</p>
<p>Younghyun gave him a look and threw his jacket and a random cap at him. “Go! Before I make Sungjin and Jae come up here and repeat what you just said.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun glowered at him and slowly got up. It was safe to say that after the a<em>ccident </em>in the library three days ago, Sungjin and Jae were on high alert wherever he was concerned. They were the most protective off him out of the whole pack, Younghyun thought he could perfectly take care of himself (he may or may not have seen him lose his cool once). Wonpil and Dowoon thought this was his problem to deal with, but didn’t forget to remind him that the two still had some friends from their college days walking around on campus who owned them some favors.</p>
<p>Younghyun smiled in victory, handing him the little grocery list and some money.</p>
<p>“And don’t forget to buy the brand chips and shampoo, the off brand ones-“</p>
<p>“They taste like cardboard and the shampoo burns, I know, I know. I use them too.”</p>
<p>Younghyun helped him put his jacket on and adjusted his cap a bit. He accepted the smothering with a small smile, knowing this was his way of caring.</p>
<p>“And don’t hold the bag with your bad hand, alright?”</p>
<p>“Yeah hyung, I know.”</p>
<p>He twisted his wrist a little bit, wincing at the dull throb it caused. Taeyang was stronger than he looked that’s for sure.</p>
<p>“Alright, see you in a bit Hwi!”</p>
<p>He waved with his good hand as he closed the door behind him, pulling the hood of his hoodie up and leaving his jacket open. He adjusted his cap back the way it was, walking down the stairs.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>He fished his phone out of his pocket when he felt it vibrate, walking into the corner store and grabbing a shopping cart. (he knew he only needed like four things at the most, but he didn’t want to carry anything until he absolutely had to)</p>
<p><em>KingKang</em>:</p>
<p>
  <em>Hey Hwi, do you wanna meet up tomorrow, or are you still on lock down??? 17.41 pm.</em>
</p>
<p>He smiled a little and shook his head. Chanhee found it hilarious when he found out his brothers actually kept him home from school.</p>
<p>
  <em>HwiHwi:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m sure I can weasel my way out, hyung actually sent me to the store just now so they’re probably cool with it. 17.42 pm.</em>
</p>
<p>He didn’t look when his phone vibrated again. Figuring the quicker he found and bought everything, the quicker he would be home and could properly text his friend.</p>
<p>He walked around the little store, leaning on the cart as he quickly found everything. He maneuvered his cart to the chips and candy isle, his last and favorite stop before he had to pay.</p>
<p>He quickly grabbed Younghyun’s chips. (Wonpil didn’t need to know nobody was even trying to eat healthier, they were just getting sneakier in smuggling it in.) He looked around to see if he could spot his favorite snack.  </p>
<p>He smiled when he spotted his pringles, the familiar orange can standing out. His smile dropped however when he finally realized where it was placed</p>
<p>‘Why do shelves hate me?’ he thought miserably as he glared at his pringles, who were <em>of course</em> placed on the highest damn shelf in the whole damn store.</p>
<p>He continued glaring at it, as if that would make it somehow come down on his own and get in his cart so he could go home.</p>
<p>“Uhm, do-do you- do you want some help?”</p>
<p>He turned towards the unfamiliar deep voice, almost jumping when he spotted the tiger as his delicious scent hit him, freshly brewed coffee and something he couldn’t quite place.</p>
<p>The tiger looked awkwardly around him as he waited for an answer. When he didn’t get one after a moment he sighed and plucked his pringles from the top of the shelf like it was nothing and put it in his cart. (damn tall people and their long ass legs)  </p>
<p>He was about to turn around, hesitating, before facing him again.</p>
<p>“I just wanted to say I’m-we’re all sorry, we should have never let things get out of hand so much last Tuesday. We were just worried, which does not excuse their actions, but we’re sorry…” He trailed off before nodding to himself and turning around, heading to the registers.</p>
<p>“Wait!” He blanked for a second as a surprised tiger turned to face him. “I never caught your name?”</p>
<p>He almost hit himself, he already knew their names! He slightly calmed down when he realized that they probably didn’t know this.</p>
<p>“O-oh! I’m Juho, Baek Juho.” He nodded to himself, waiting as Youngkyun slowly caught up with him, keeping the cart between them as a barrier. Juho looked delighted as they started walking to the register together.</p>
<p>“How’s your wrist? Tae mentioned that he grabbed it when he spun you around.”</p>
<p>“M-My wrist? It’s fine.” Normally he was a great liar, but around these guys he always seemed to get tongue tied.</p>
<p>Juho side eyed him with an amused look.</p>
<p>“You’re a terrible liar, you know?”</p>
<p>“Excuse you, normally I’m a great liar!”</p>
<p>“So why are you being so obvious now?”</p>
<p>“Because-because I-I am!”</p>
<p>“Because you are?”</p>
<p>“Yes!”</p>
<p>Juho let out a loud, high pitched, laugh. Youngkyun let a small smile slip onto his face when he heard it, smoothing his face out when he glanced over.</p>
<p>“If your wrist is fine, then why don’t you show it to me?” Juho teased him, with an underlying tone he couldn’t quite get. (<em>he is worriiiee-</em> shut it brain)</p>
<p>He sighed deeply, moving slightly to the side so they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, and rolled up his left sleeve.</p>
<p>He carefully monitored both Juho’s facial expression and scent, ready to bolt if his scent soured or his face darkened even the slightest bit. He almost flinched when he saw hands reaching out for his wrist, letting out a tiny relieved sigh when he retracted at last second.</p>
<p>“Can I…?”</p>
<p>Youngkyun nodded, figuring he was just worried. And the guy <em>did </em>try to help in the library. (and he <em>asked </em>before simply doing it, that was also a big factor)</p>
<p>Juho slowly took his wrist in his hand with the utmost care, his touch so light Youngkyun almost didn’t feel it. (he still felt those damn sparks though…) He carefully looked at the blue/greenish bruise, vaguely shaped like a hand. Youngkyun looked at him with barely disguised surprise at his gentleness.</p>
<p>“Does it hurt much?”</p>
<p>“If I don’t move it around too much or lift things with it, I barely feel it.”</p>
<p>He nodded, slowly letting go of his wrist and turning to face him with a sad look on his face.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, again, that we let this happen. We should’ve known this is how he would react.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun made a confused noise as he slowly steered his cart to the register again.</p>
<p>Juho laughed awkwardly as his hand came up to scratch the back of his head, his black t-shirt slightly riding up as he did so. (not that he looked, of course not) “We know Taeyang for a couple years already, but he only recently moved out of the wild and away from his pack in with us. He’s still getting used to ‘domesticated’ life.”</p>
<p>That … actually made a lot of sense. He was about to say so, but they (finally) reached the register and he was forced to interact with the cashier. A pretty dog hybrid, a golden retriever if his eyes didn’t betray him. She gave him a nice smile when he looked her away, batting her eyelashes at him. He gave a strained smile back, cursing the fact that he smelt so obviously feline, a lot of shifters liked that about a scent. And well, cats are about as feline as you can get.</p>
<p>In his effort not to look at and somehow encourage her, his eyes automatically shot towards the little snacks display and he immediately eyed the Skittles. Maybe he could try- no. He shouldn’t become too ambitious, and they were too noisy anyway. Wonpil would undoubtedly hear and scold him. </p>
<p>They made random small talk. Well, she did most of the talking, he only hummed and nodded at the right times. His gaze kept returning to the Skittles. (He didn’t notice her stopping when she saw the tiger behind him glare at her angrily though) He was happy when he finally payed and received his receipt.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun! Wait a second, I’ll walk you home.”</p>
<p>He turned around with a funny look on his face, about to pick up his bagged groceries.</p>
<p>“You do know I can take care of myself right? And I only need to walk like a block anyway.”</p>
<p>“I believe you, but it’ll make me feel better. And you just said that lifting things with your wrist hurt.”</p>
<p>“It’s one bag and I have <em>two </em>hands not one.” He was teasing him now, he didn’t mind if this one walked him home. He hadn’t tried to corner him or force him to stay, and actually was about to walk away and leave him alone if he hadn’t called out his name. <em>And </em>if he tried something, he was close enough to the café that if he screamed Sungjin would come running.</p>
<p>“Just let me help out alright?! As an apology for your wrist.”</p>
<p>“You didn’t even do it though.”</p>
<p>He paused for second before giving him a deadpan stare.</p>
<p>“You’re teasing me aren’t you?”</p>
<p>“Took you long enough to realize. Come on, it’s getting dark and my brothers will not be happy with if I take any longer.”</p>
<p>Juho paled slightly and quickly took his own bags and Youngkyun’s, ignoring his protests.</p>
<p>The walk home went faster than expected, the both of them falling in surprising easy conversation. Apparently Juho was majoring in music composition and minoring in dance, the only reason he did dance is because most of his pack minored in it too.</p>
<p>They came to a stop by the side door of the café, this door didn’t require you to go through the café every time you needed to go in or out. (it’s the one he uses when he isn’t hungry and tries to sweettalk his way into getting some free food)</p>
<p>“This is me. Thanks for walking me home Juho.”</p>
<p>“Ah, it’s no problem Kyun. And again sorry about a few days ago.” He said, handing him his grocery bag.</p>
<p>“You know, you guys should really stop apologizing for things you didn’t do. If it’s Taeyang, Dawon and Seokwoo’s fault they should be the ones owning up to it, not you.” He said over his shoulder, unlocking the door.</p>
<p>Juho looked at his back in surprise, a big smile slipping onto his face.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep it in mind, thanks.”</p>
<p>He didn’t walk away yet, opening his mouth a few times and closing it again. Right when Youngkyun was about to help the poor guy out he seemed to find to words he was looking for.</p>
<p>“You’re a cat, right?”</p>
<p>He simply stared at him with wide eyes, his mind completely blanking.</p>
<p>“Did Youngbin-“</p>
<p>His angry sentence was cut off when a panicked Juho waved his hands and shook his head.</p>
<p>“No! No! Inseong hyung, the fox shifter with the blond hair, made the connection when the big cat shifter called you his brother!” He quickly (and loudly) reassured.</p>
<p>Youngkyun shook his head, trying to shake the surprise of off him. Then he realized he didn’t answer his question yet.</p>
<p>“Uhm, yeah. I’m a cat shifter.”</p>
<p>Juho nodded to himself before giving him one last smile and saying goodbye, turning around and walking away.</p>
<p>He huffed in amusement as Juho walked away, staring after him until he rounded the corner. He was about to walk up the stairs, when he heard a weird clinking noise coming from his grocery bag.</p>
<p>He frowned and looked inside, blanking when he saw the Skittles he’d been staring at in the store laying on top of his groceries. He blinked at it before a small smile overtook his face, shooting a quick look towards the corner Juho disappeared behind.</p>
<p>He walked up the stairs, his pringles and Maltesers safely tucked inside his jacket, and gave the groceries to Younghyun. Who immediately took his chips out and hid it in one of the highest cupboards. He didn’t mention or ask why it took him so long, probably distracted with his chips and figuring he got home safely anyway.</p>
<p>When he had put his snacks away in his room. He let himself fall on his bed when he was sure Wonpil wouldn’t find them, and promptly almost jumped off it when he felt something vibrate. He picked up his phone, glaring at it slightly for scaring him before unlocking it.</p>
<p>
  <em>KingKang:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>If you’re going to the little corner store close to the café then a fair warning, Juho hyung will be there too cause that’s the only place in the city that has his weird ass chips. 17.44 pm</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>KingKang:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Why is Juho hyung trying to attack Tae??? 18.08 pm</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hwi?? He said something about him minding his strength?? 18.09 pm</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>YOUNGKYUN?!?! 18.10 pm</em>
</p>
<p>He groaned and turned off his phone, twisting himself under the covers to take a nap.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>He never got to hang out with Chanhee after all. Because Wonpil, the lovable idiot, had to mention how his jacket was smelling weird. Which meant Jae immediately went to investigate and also didn’t recognize the scent, but thought he got hit on again and on his way to tease Youngkyun ran into Sungjin. Who also smelled the jacket but actually <em>did</em> recognize the scent, and he was promptly on lockdown again for the whole weekend. He was pretty sure Chanhee almost laughed up a lung when he told him this.</p>
<p><em>And</em> to end another eventful week, he forgot he had a paper due on Monday and had to pull an all-nighter to finish it. Which brought him to now, a few minutes before his big break where Youngkyun could sleep and ask for scratches from Yeosang and Sunwoo, maybe Hyunjin if he wasn’t too excited.</p>
<p>He hoped he didn’t run into <em>them </em>again. (even though he wouldn’t mind Chanhee, but he didn’t know his favorite scratch places and he was in no mood to tell him now.) He just wanted to find a quiet and private spot where he could take off his beanie and get some well-deserved pets, scratches and cuddles.</p>
<p>When the teacher finally announced the end of the class, he was sluggish and slow with packing his stuff away. Yeosang was already finding a private room so they could nap and cuddle in piece, and Sunwoo would try and sneak out of his class. (he didn’t like math anyway)  </p>
<p>
  <em>SangSang:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I have found us a room and Sunwoo is guarding it as I’m texting you, I’ll take my payment is the form of cuddles and scratches. (Woo’s supposed to send you the location)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>HwiHwi:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You are the best Sangie! And are Mingi and Hongjoong fighting again?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>SangSang:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Isn’t a leader supposed to be calm and collected?? I’ll come back after setting them straight, see yah soon.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>HwiHwi:</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Me and Sunwoo will be waiting with your payment ready!</em>
</p>
<p>Youngkyun smiled, his friends exasperation was always funny. Especially if you got the gossip later on.</p>
<p>He quickly found the room after his phone buzzed, opening the door and almost dropping his phone when he saw the humongous pillow fort in the middle of the small study room.</p>
<p>“How did he even?-“</p>
<p>“I have no clue how you two manage to do these kind of things around here, please don’t ask me.” A deep voice rang out from within the fort.</p>
<p>Youngkyun smiled again and took off his shoes and placed them neatly next to the door, in contrast to the other pair of shoes thrown around the room.</p>
<p>He crawled into the fort and was greeted by a lazy smile and a black tail to the face.</p>
<p>“Ah, sorry Hwi. Why are you still wearing your beanie? Take it off and come cuddle with mee.” He whined, opening his arms and putting his pouty lips to use by pouting.</p>
<p>“And they say I’m dramatic…” He teased him, laughing when he was pulled forward with even more whining. He settled in the place next to big pouty black cat and let him pull his beanie off. His tail freeing itself from underneath it’s shirt.</p>
<p>They laid in silence for a few minutes, letting the fort warm up and occasionally moving to scratch behind ears or gently patting tails.</p>
<p>“Hwi?”</p>
<p>He hummed lazily, his face smushed into one of the pillows with Sunwoo’s hand in his hair. Gently taking it out of it’s little ponytail and combing the few tangles out of it.</p>
<p>“How is it going with your mates?” Sunwoo was not spared from his complaining the past week either, even if he didn’t share break with them. Phones were a handy little invention.</p>
<p>“Bad. The savages think I can’t take care of myself and I don’t know how to prove to them that I can. And they didn’t even apologize yet for the library thing you know?! I only got a half-assed sorry from a pack member when I ran into him in the store.” Sunwoo let out a huff.</p>
<p>“Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you.” He teased.</p>
<p>Youngkyun smiled and turned around, wanting to face his friend, but his dumbass used his left hand. He let himself fall down with a hiss of pain, holding his wrist against his chest.</p>
<p>“Whoa? What did you do? Did the ‘sheets not want to let you go’ again this morning?” Sunwoo laughed as he reached for his wrist.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s not so bad though. It will probably be gone by tomorrow so you don’t need to worry your pretty head about it.” Youngkyun teased, bopping him on the nose. (he would’ve said pretty little head, but Sunwoo’s head was not that small)</p>
<p>Sunwoo grabbed the offending finger, moving it side to side as he talked. “Maybe I don’t, but I would like to judge for myself. You have a outstanding ability to downplay your pain. <em>And </em>I’m your best friend and know you’re a great liar, so give me the damn wrist.”   </p>
<p>“But I’m <em>fine</em>.”</p>
<p>At Sunwoo’s look he sighed but moved his left hand slightly closer to him, giving him the go ahead. He couldn’t lie to his two best friends, they see through him or just plain don’t believe him.</p>
<p>Sunwoo gently pulled his hand closer and pulled up the sleeve, going rigid when he saw the bruise.</p>
<p>“Last time I checked, sheets didn’t have hands.” He muttered lowly. “Who did this?”</p>
<p>“It was just an accident, he apparently just moved out of the wild so he doesn’t know how to control his strength yet. When he pulled me ar-“</p>
<p>Sunwoo cut him off with an disbelieved look. “Are you trying to tell me that one of your mates did this, and you’re trying to defend said mate?!”</p>
<p>Youngkyun winced but nodded. “I’m not trying to defend him, I’m just sharing a fact that someone has told me.”</p>
<p>“And is that someone one of your ‘mates’?”</p>
<p>“Yeah?”</p>
<p>“<em>Hwiyoung.”</em></p>
<p>“I know alright! But they’re my mates and I feel like I have to give them a chance. And immediately shooting all of them down because one makes a mistake seems hardly fair!”</p>
<p>“Hwi.”</p>
<p>“And I know I should give them more time and actually talk to them to give them something to work with, but every time I do one of them just seems to fuck up again!-“</p>
<p>“Hwiyoung!”</p>
<p>Youngkyun’s gaze snapped up to Sunwoo. He made a confused noise when he realized they were sitting up and not lying down like before. Sunwoo was on his knee before him, a worried look on his face and his hands on his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Hwiyoung, you know that you don’t owe them anything right?”</p>
<p>Youngkyun frowned at him but didn’t say anything, forcing him to elaborate.</p>
<p>He sighed. “Hwiyoung, just because they’re your mates doesn’t mean you’re going to end up with them. Are they easier to fall in love with? Yes. Are they your endgame? No! That’s up to nobody but you Hwi.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun felt himself calm down. He hadn’t even noticed how worked up he felt about all of this.</p>
<p>“But to be fair, you are kind of biased where mates are concerned.”  </p>
<p>“I have my reasons.”</p>
<p>“I know. And I know you’re only trying to look for me, and I appreciate it.”</p>
<p>“Well, we’ve been friends for about ten years now. I think it’s justified.” Youngkyun let out a little laugh and lied down on his back.</p>
<p>“We really need to meet up more often, I feel like I barely see you anymore.” Youngkyun muttered.</p>
<p>“We should. And to end this whole tirade about mates, just remember that they aren’t you’re only option alright?” Sunwoo stated, lying down on his back next to Youngkyun.</p>
<p>“Don’t tell me you’re making yourself an option.”</p>
<p>“Yeosang’s already mated though!”</p>
<p>“We broke up for a reason Woo!” He laughed.</p>
<p>“But we were a power couple for as long as it lasted, you gotta admit that.”</p>
<p>“If I admit it will you shut up about this?!”</p>
<p>“Yes!”</p>
<p>“Fine! We were a power couple for as long as it lasted!”</p>
<p>“Damn right we were.”</p>
<p>The both of them stared each other for a second before bursting out laughing. They were still laughing when a very confused Yeosang walked in on them.</p>
<p>“Do I even wanna know what you two did?”</p>
<p> ~</p>
<p>Youngkyun was feeling refreshed and calm as he walked to his locker to dump a few books he wouldn’t need until next week. The napping/cuddling sessions with his best friends genuinely helped him. He rounded the corner and made a beeline for his locker, not even bothering to look around him.</p>
<p>He entered the familiar code and opened his locker, almost letting out a screech when a felt something soft fall against his face. He slowly let his hand come up and gently moved it away from his face so he could open his eyes. He tilted his head in confusion when he saw a bouquet in his locker, with a small box of what smelled like chocolates next to it.</p>
<p>He picked up the bouquet, which was really beautiful. He wasn’t an expert on flowers, but he liked how the blue and white mixed, and the little hints of green made it look earthy and pretty. He looked around him if he could spot someone walking away or being suspicious, but he was alone in the hallway. He scented the air around him, but there were too many scents to distinguish one.</p>
<p>He dumped his books carelessly in the locker while he moved the box of chocolates to his bag. He turned the bouquet around to see if he could spot a card while he closed his locker. (yes he should have done the card searching first, but he rarely got flowers as it is so don’t judge him)</p>
<p>He looked near the top again, moving the plastic wrapped around it slightly to the side and finally spotted an envelope pocking out.</p>
<p>He carefully took it out, he didn’t want to ruin the pretty flowers. And moved the bouquet between his elbow and body so he could use two hands to open the envelope. (Stop judging him! Opening those things are hell alright!)</p>
<p>After he finally got it open (correction: got frustrated and ripped it open with his claws) and got the little letter out. His eyebrows raised in surprise when he read the letter.</p>
<p>
  <em>Hey Youngkyun,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I’m genuinely sorry for hurting you, and scaring you. That wasn’t what I was trying to do. I was just really worried because when you ran into us you looked afraid and smelled so too. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them but I thought we could help you and protect you. But I see now that I should have thought about you thoughts and feelings over this too. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And why I’m not saying this to you in person? I wasn’t really sure how you would react to seeing me, or that you even wanted to see me.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I hope you can forgive me.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Taeyang X</em>
</p>
<p>He didn’t know if he should be shocked that he got an apology or about the simplistic writing. He huffed in slight amusement and carefully folded the letter and put it in his bag, turning around and walking away.</p>
<p>He didn’t notice two gazes following him, one happy and smiling, while the other one was glaring angrily at Youngkyun's locker.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And I forgot to add this to the footnote, but hybrids/shifters are fully matured when they turn 21. So everyone calling Chanhee and Youngkyun cub and kitten are not nicknames, it's literally what they are at this moment. (the both of them are 18 now with Youngkyun turning 19)</p>
<p>And how did you guys like this chapter?? Sunwoo (my other baby) is finally introduced! </p>
<p>(and this not beta'd, please excuse any seplling mistakes or typos)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. I Regret Everything (Sunwoo does)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Hey Taeyang,-“ He said over his shoulder. “I liked the flowers.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you guys like it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Youngkyun screeched when he felt something wet hit his face and moved so violently to get away from it that he fell off the bed, pulling something heavy along with him.</p><p>“What <em>the fuck </em>Jae?!”</p><p>“Why the fuck did you have to pull me with you Hwi?! And you know the rule for when you wake up too late!” Jae complained while standing up, rubbing his hip and glaring at him. (He didn’t know what possessed him to agree with being woken up with an ice cold hand towel to the face first thing in the morning, but he now knew what he was going to use one of his unused vetoes on)</p><p>“Where has the cat solidarity gone in this cruel, cruel world?”</p><p>“Don’t be so dramatic, you Bengals actually like water. Now get ready. There’s an apple on the table as breakfast since you missed actual breakfast. And there’s money on the living room table for lunch since Sungjin didn’t have time to make you any today and Wonpil isn’t here yet. Use the main door because we locked the side door last night and Dowoon accidentally took the key with him.” Youngkyun nodded as he slowly untangled himself from his many, many blankets and ignored Jae as he speed walked away, probably going back downstairs.</p><p>He sighed as he started changing, feeling particularly lazy today. He chose a random black hoodie with some comic book character on it he was too tired to identify and grey joggers, ending his look with a black and white cap he put on backwards.</p><p>He walked with his eyes barely open towards the kitchen and reached out towards the direction which faintly smelled like coffee, cursing as his pinky finger dipped into the hot liquid. He put it in his mouth as he quickly searched for his backpack, he made the random decision to make his homework in the kitchen last night. His hyungs were surprised but delighted that he wanted to spend time with them. (he decided to keep it to himself that he only needed help with his math)  </p><p>He drank his coffee as fast as he could while he was repacking his backpack. He tried to make a mental check list, but stopped doing that when he realized he had already forgotten half before he even started. He was just hoping whatever he forgot his friends would be so kind to share with him.</p><p>He put his empty mug in the sink and slung his backpack on his shoulder, moving towards the living room to get his lunch money while fastening his cap. (One of his caps almost fell off one time and he almost had a heart attack. Everyone would’ve known he was a Bengal if it weren’t for Sunwoo, who pulled his hood up and loaned him his beanie for the rest of the day)</p><p>He smiled slightly when he saw the white and blue flowers standing proudly on the living room table, in a matching blue vase Wonpil somehow found in the apartment. (honestly, he didn’t even know they <em>owned </em>a vase.)   </p><p>He picked up the money but paused putting it in his wallet when he saw an opened envelope sitting on the table with a red stamp on it. He put his wallet away and picked up the envelope. His stomach dropped and he quickly sat down when he read the PAST DUE  stamp on the envelope.</p><p>He took a deep breath to stop himself from unnecessary panicking. Maybe Jae forgot to pay rent on time or he was trying to teach Dowoon and Wonpill how to ‘adult’ again. (he ignored the little voice in the back of his head saying <em>but Jae hasn’t forgotten to pay rent since you started living here and Wonpil and Dowoon didn’t want to learn, saying ‘we’ll have you for that when the time comes hyung!’</em>)</p><p>He put the letter down the exact way he found it and quickly grabbed his apple, he was late already and professor Watson didn’t like late-comers as it is. She always said; ‘If you can’t be on time for my class then I have no trust in you being on time to interview people. And thus you career ends before it even starts.’</p><p>~</p><p>“Rough morning?”</p><p>“Mornings and me just don’t mix alright! And how could you tell?”</p><p>Hyunjin let out his high pitched laugh as he linked their arms. “Yeosangie mentioned once that you always wear vaguely matching clothing when you wake up late.”</p><p>Youngkyun looked down at his clothing (he was sure he looked quite put together) and pursed his lips when he saw the ‘grey’ sweatpants he put on had a bright neon yellow stripe running up his leg, and he was wearing one black and one grey shoe, his hoodie was thankfully only black with the spiderman logo on it. At least he was wearing vans. He frowned, letting Hyunjin pull him along.</p><p>“I’m a mess aren’t I?”</p><p>“At least you’re a cute mess.” His friend reassured him before telling him all the gossip he gathered when he was gone.</p><p>Hyunjin was still telling him about all the new gossip as he pushed him into the seat behind Yeosang, sitting next to said cat who seemed to be dozing off. (they didn’t have the heart to tell him they already knew the ‘new’ gossip)</p><p>Yeosang mumbled out was probably supposed to be a greeting and he groaned back in response. Hyunjin looked on in amused fascination.</p><p>“Are all cats so grumpy in the morning or is just you two?”</p><p>“Sunwoo barely goes to his morning classes.”</p><p>“Jae has six alarms in the morning and needs about two mugs of coffee before he can even think.”</p><p>“So it’s just all cats then.”</p><p>He got two groans and let out a laugh in response.</p><p>Youngkyun sighed out in relief as the wolf started pestering the cat next to him. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his friend, but nobody should be allowed to be so bright and peppy in the morning. He let his head fall on top of his crossed arms on his desk, maybe he could snag a few minutes of sweet sleep before miss Watson came…</p><p>His musings came to a stop when the chair next to him got pulled out and the familiar spicy chocolate smell hit him. (he finally figured out what  the spicy smell was, it was saffron they used to collect when they were little and their moms wanted to make them a treat)</p><p>He was about to groan out another greeting when a second smell hit him, a strange mix of lemons, strawberries and something woodsy. It smelled good but it was a little sharp and actually woke him up a little. ‘Huh, a smell that immediately energizes you, you’d be a pain to nap next to.’ Youngkyun thought to himself, letting a quiet chuckle before the reality of the situation hit him.</p><p>He let out a long drawn out groan and lifted his head the slightest bit so only his eyes were visible, glaring at Chanhee who was staring at him amusement.</p><p>“Alrighty then. Kyun this is Sanghyuk hyung, or as he likes to be called; Dawon.” Chanhee introduced the male sitting behind him. He gave him a quick glance before his glare returned to Chanhee.</p><p>“Damn, woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” Sanghyuk’s loud voice sounded behind him, making him and Yeosang hiss slightly and curl in on themselves as if that would make his voice somehow quieter. He immediately remembered him as the one who waltzed in screaming in the library that day.</p><p>“Don’t mind them, apparently all cats are grumpy in the morning.” Hyunjin replied instead of his tired friends.</p><p>“Well, I would appreciate it if your tired friend could lift his head for like, a minute. I have some apologizing to do and it feels insincere to apologize to a back.”</p><p>His ears perked up at the word apologize. He let out a little sigh as he forced his head up, leaning on his chin instead of his forehead and slightly moving sideways so he could see him from the corner of his eyes. He felt Chanhee’s and Sanghyuk’s expectant gazes on him.</p><p>“This is all you’re gonna get.” He mumbled.</p><p>“I can barely see your face.”</p><p>“Count yourself lucky, normally he wouldn’t have moved at all.” Hyunjin informed him. Seemed his friend was also interested in what the hyena was going to say, even Yeosang had slightly moved and was watching them with a lazy gaze. Ears pointed in their direction.</p><p>Chanhee sighed quietly before sharing a look with Sanghyuk, who shrugged at him. Chanhee turned to face him again.</p><p>“Okay you lazy dumbass, me and hyung will switch seats this time.”</p><p>Youngkyun looked on in slight amusement as they switched seats, slightly tensing up when the hyena moved a little too close. He seemed to notice and leaned back slightly.</p><p>“Alright… although I wished we could do this in a more private setting, without your friends listening in on every word I say.-“ He side-eyed Hyunjin and Yeosang, one waved at him and the other simply raised a single eyebrow. Neither of them making an effort to even seem like they weren’t listening. “-But I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that our actions would make you panic like that, and if I knew I would’ve never done that. Tae and Rowoon also wouldn’t, for the record. But <em>please</em> understand this from our point of view. We hear from Taeyang that you were <em>chased </em>on campus by a <em>sketchy human</em>, and I’m pretty sure nobody here likes humans,-“ There were several nods as he kept talking. “-so instead of asking for the whole story, which we should have done, we ran around asking where we could find you and ambushed you in the library. Please understand that our worry blindsided us this time, and I’m owning up to my part in all of this.” Sanghyuk looked at him with pleading eyes. (he guessed, it was hard trying to guess when you couldn’t actually look into the guy’s eyes.)</p><p>Youngkyun took a moment to dissect the apology, wondering where the damn teacher was. (She was always preaching about being on ti- oh, never mind, they still had a few minutes before class officially started…) The guy <em>did</em> sound sincere. And he had reached out several times to pet him on the shoulder or to lay his hand on the back of his neck, but caught himself each time before he could even hiss at him.</p><p>“I will accept your apology-“</p><p>“Yes! Thank you so much Youngkyun!”</p><p>“-on one condition.” He finished his sentence, making Sanghyuk deflate slightly.</p><p>“You have to swear you won’t ever do that again. I don’t care what the situation is, just keep your cool.” He said firmly, it had taken his brothers about a day and a half to fully calm him down and he didn’t want a repeat.</p><p>Sanghyuk’s whole demeanor softened. He  leaned his head on the table to level his eyes with Youngkyun’s and muttered in a soft voice. “I swear, I won’t ever do it again.”</p><p>(These guys made it <em>very </em>hard not to look into their eyes, but the two little sparks in his chest reminded him not to. Even if they didn’t feel <em>that </em>bad)</p><p>“Then I accept your apology.” Youngkyun replied in the same tone.</p><p>A small, sincere smile crept onto Sanghyuk’s face. He let out a small whoop as he stood up, successfully breaking the small moment.</p><p>Chanhee slid back into his original seat and gave him a big smile. He was about to say something snarky when he noticed Sanghyuk still standing next to his desk.</p><p>“Aren’t you going to sit down?” Hyunjin asked, slightly weirded out.</p><p>“Oh, no. I’m actually not in this class, I only came by to apologize. See you at lunch Chanhee-yah.” He waved as he quickly walked towards the door, almost bumping into the professor who watched him leave with an unimpressed look.</p><p>Chanhee turned to face him with a triumphant look on his face.</p><p>“<em>See</em>! I told you they were not that bad.”</p><p>“<em>Maybe</em> not Chanhee, we’ll see.”</p><p>~</p><p>Youngkyun sighed in annoyance when he saw the large line in the canteen. Normally the line was pretty short, but of course, the one day he needed to buy his lunch the line was unreasonably long.</p><p>“You can just go to a corner store and get some ramyeon there.” Yeosang suggested while he looked for an empty table, quickly pulling him along when he saw Sunwoo wave them over.</p><p>“But that includes walking all the way over there, all alone.” He whined.</p><p>“What are you doing ‘all alone’.”</p><p>“He’s being a baby over the fact that he’s going to have walk to the store to get some food.”</p><p>“Why? What’s wrong with the cafeteria food?”</p><p>“One, whatever you pick here is somehow over- or undercooked. Two, I don’t feel like waiting half an hour just to eat a sad excuse of what they call ‘food’ here.” Every school at least had one bad factor, shame that for this school it was the food. Or maybe he was just picky.</p><p>Sunwoo chuckled and slapped his shoulder lightly. “I would offer to go with you, but then I would have to leave Yeosang alone.”</p><p>“San and Wooyoung are on their way over here as we speak.”</p><p>“Okay! Come on Kyun, I thought we were going to the store!”</p><p>Youngkyun laughed as a hasty Sunwoo pulled him up, leaving their bags behind with a laughing Yeosang.</p><p>~</p><p>“<em>Soo</em>, did you have a hard time waking up this morning again?”</p><p>Youngkyun groaned and pulled his hood further over his head. “Is it <em>that </em>obvious?”</p><p>“That yellow stripe is literally screaming at me, and don’t even get me started on your shoes. I didn’t even know you <em>owned </em>clothes with neon colors.” Sunwoo laughed, bumping their shoulders.</p><p>“In the morning I could swear they were just regular grey sweatpants alright! And I’m pretty sure they belong to Wonpil anyway, he likes his clothes weird like that.” He whined, letting Sunwoo open the small door for the both of them.</p><p>Sunwoo shook his head, small chuckles still escaping him. “Why don’t you head on over the ramyeon and I’ll head over to the snacks. This way it seems I at least came along for something and not just to avoid Loud and Louder.”</p><p>Youngkyun gasped in fake offense. “So my sparkling personality isn’t enough for you? I’m disappointed Woo!”</p><p>“Sparkling? More like grumbling. See you at the register.” Sunwoo snorted before taking off.</p><p>Youngkyun jokingly hissed after him before walking towards the ramyeon. He was feeling simple today and reached for the first chicken ramyeon he saw, quickly walking towards the register to pay and then using the in store microwave to heat it.</p><p>He gazed around in boredom as he waited for his food to warm up, leaning to the side to see if he could spot his friend. He sighed as he saw him standing with three things in his hand, staring intently at them. Sunwoo was really bad with deciding what he wanted on the spot, it takes <em>ages </em>to shop with him.</p><p>He got distracted when his nose was attacked by the what smelled like hazelnuts and… was that honey? Did this store even sell <em>honey</em>? His eyes widened when he recognized the smell. (really, this was getting quite pathetic now. He was supposed to know by now what a mate’s scent felt like.)</p><p>“Oh, hello Youngkyun-ah! Almost didn’t see you there!” The big lion smiled hesitantly at him.</p><p>“U-uhm, yeah. Just getting some lunch.” He said quietly while gesturing to the microwave behind him.</p><p>He frowned slightly but shrugged ultimately. “Well, I guess this is better than the cafeteria food.”</p><p>They stood in an awkward silence for a while before Seokwoo’s eyes widened.</p><p>“Oh my god, I’m so rude! I totally forgot to introduce myself! I’m Kim Seokwoo, or as my friends sometimes call me; Rowoon.” Before Youngkyun could say something he was already talking again. “Actually I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I wanted to say sorry for what happened, we were completely out of line and you have every right to be mad at us. Oh! I actually made you something to show you how sorry I am. When Chanhee told me you liked my devils cake I thought you might like this as well!”</p><p>Youngkyun just kinda stared while the big lion in front of him rambled on and searched inside his bag. (seriously! If he thought Juho was tall then this guy was a damn giant!)</p><p>He finally shook himself out of stupor when Seokwoo found the thing he was looking for.</p><p>“Ah, that’s not needed. I mean you did try to help me…”</p><p>“Nonsense! We were at fault here and me, Dawon and Taeyang the most! Just because we were worried doesn’t mean we get to scare and hurt you! No matter if it’s an accident or not!” Seokwoo insisted, holding a familiar brown bag. Youngkyun paused for a second before his eyes widened.</p><p>“Wait! You’re the one who made the god-like devils cake?!” He all but screamed.</p><p>Seokwoo’s eyes got wide as a faint red hue took over his cheeks. “I take it you <em>really </em>liked it.” He stated while rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>Youngkyun felt his cheeks grow warm too. His hands clasped together, lightly pulling at his left fingers.</p><p>Seokwoo smiled lightly and set the bag next to microwave, leaning against the other end of the small counter.</p><p>“If you don’t mind waiting a little while we could walk back together-“</p><p>“Hey Hwi, I finally made a choice! They shouldn’t put skittles and lollipops next to each other, it really- who is this?” Sunwoo stopped his complaining when he saw Seokwoo, his easy going smile falling off his face.</p><p>Youngkyun was about to introduce the lion, but said lion beat him to the punch.</p><p>“You’re one of Youngkyun’s friends? Nice to meet you! I’m Kim Seokwoo, one of Younkyun’s mates.” He said with a friendly smile, holding out his hand. He didn’t notice Youngkyun’s wince.</p><p>Sunwoo’s face darkened. “<em>Oh</em>. So <em>you’re </em>part of the group that hurt and scared my best friend?”</p><p>Seokwoo’s smile strained. “That was an accident and we are trying to make it right again.”</p><p>Sunwoo simply huffed at him. “Sure you are, <em>cub</em>.”</p><p>Seokwoo bit his lip but didn’t respond, turning to face Youngkyun instead. Who was watching the conversation with wince on his face, not sure if he should step in.</p><p>“I’ll see you later Youngkyun.” He said with a tight expression, turning around and stalking into the store.</p><p>Sunwoo glared at his back while he walked away, only stopping when he got whacked in the head by Youngkyun.</p><p>“<em>Ow</em>! What was that for?!”</p><p>“For trying to pick an unnecessary fight with an animal that’s <em>twice</em> your size!”</p><p>“I could still take him though.” He argued, crossing his arms.</p><p>“Yeah, and I like cucumbers! Now help with my food you thick headed idiot.”</p><p>“<em>Mean…</em>” He muttered but still helped him.</p><p>~</p><p>“Sunwoo is waiting for you in the kitchen, something about loud idiots or something…?” Jae informed him while he lounged behind the register.</p><p>Youngkyun let out a snort and ignored Jae’s slightly judgy but confused face. (on second thought, it was just confused. Instead of having a resting bitch face he had a resting judgy face.)</p><p>He opened the door and just got a greeting for Wonpil in before a deep voice yelled at him.</p><p>“Why did you abandon me with Loud and Louder?!”</p><p>Youngkyun chuckled quietly as he remembered how their break went after Sunwoo tried to bait Seokwoo into fighting with him. After they walked back into the canteen he started walking behind his friend and eventually slithered away to Hyunjin’s table, where they both laughed at how the ‘Loud and Louder’ pair immediately pounced onto the poor black cat. Yeosang just let it happen with an amused look on his face, calming them down slightly whenever they got too rowdy.</p><p>“Because you were almost the cause of a scene in the store!” He put his backpack down in the corner before joining Sunwoo on top of the counter, hiding a familiar brown bag behind his back.</p><p>“But he’s one of the idiots who hurt you!”</p><p>“Actually, he wasn’t.”</p><p>“He wasn’t?” His tone got higher and he rubbed the back of his neck, having the decency to at least look a little ashamed.</p><p>“No, he tried to stop them if I recall correctly.”</p><p>Sunwoo pursed his lips slightly. “Well I still don’t like him, no person should be allowed to be that tall.”</p><p>Youngkyun sighed at his unreasonable friend and opened the bag, seeing from the corner of his eyes Sunwoo’s eyes snapped over.</p><p>“Are those chocolate chip cupcakes?” He asked with big eyes.</p><p>He hummed, taking one out and slowly unwrapping the wrapper around it.</p><p>“Sure is, I had one on my way over here. And I think they might on par, maybe even better, than Sungjin hyung’s.” He mock whispered, his hand in front of his mouth to shield the words.</p><p>Sunwoo gulped, his eyes not straying from the cupcake. He opened his mouth to ask for one but Youngkyun beat him to the punch.</p><p>“I still don’t know if I should share them though. A lot of work went into making these and I don’t want the cook to be disrespected.”</p><p>“No, no. Of course not.” He gulped.</p><p>“So you promise if I give you one you’ll respect the cook?”</p><p>Sunwoo nodded frantically, making grabby hands at the cupcake. He let him grab with a smug smile on his face. After he had finished his cupcake his face fell slightly.</p><p>“Hey Hwi?”</p><p>He hummed.</p><p>“Who <em>is </em>the cook?”</p><p>“Seokwoo.”</p><p>Sunwoo let out an agonizing groan and jumped from the counter, pointing an accusing finger at him.</p><p>“You tricked me!”</p><p>“I did and you know why?”</p><p>“Why?!” He cried out in indignation, ignoring Wonpil’s laugh behind him.</p><p>“Because you need to leave them alone and let them have their chance to right their wrongs!-“ He gave him a slight glare when it seemed he was about to be interrupted and went on.”- I <em>know</em> you don’t like the idea or concept of mates, but that doesn’t mean you have to antagonize mine when they make one mistake and are doing their best to own up to it. Next time we or you run into them. You. Are. going. To. Leave. Them. Alone. You hear me?</p><p>Sunwoo sighed and nodded in defeat. “But if they mess up like this again?-“</p><p>“-Then you can antagonize them all you want. They probably deserve it then anyways.” He smiled as he heard Sunwoo whoop, ignoring Wonpil’s look. People should be proud he was already giving them a shot.</p><p>~</p><p>After Youngkyun got changed into his uniform and left Sunwoo in the kitchen with Sungjin and Wonpil, he immediately wanted to turn around and go back upstairs to nap or bang his head against the wall in frustration. The first thing he saw when he opened the double doors were Chanhee’s wide eyes.</p><p>‘What are you doing here?!’ Youngkyun mouthed, giving him the ‘I’m so done with you’ -look.</p><p>He mouthed something back, but Youngkyun could only frown in confusion. He tilted his head and mouthed a ‘what’ only to get the same outcome. He sighed and waved him over, leaning on the side of the bar close to the main kitchen door.</p><p>“<em>What in the holy hell-</em>“</p><p>“I swear I have an good explanation.” Chanhee placated a very annoyed cat.</p><p>“Then do tell me your ‘very’ good explanation please.”</p><p>“I didn’t think you’d be here and this place is very close to our place and Taeyang was going crazy staying inside so Inseong thought it would be a good idea to take a walk and we walked past here and I couldn’t change their minds <em>and please don’t be mad at me!</em>” Chanhee explained in one breath, gasping loudly after.</p><p>Youngkyun stared at the nervous panther for a little while longer before he sighed, letting his shoulders drop.</p><p>“And you <em>had </em>to sit in my part of the café.”</p><p>“Don’t act like I did this on purpose, finding out everything about everyone and anyone is your thing not mine.”</p><p>Youngkyun shrugged in response, picking up a notebook from behind the bar. “Just don’t let Sungjin hyung see you. The damn bear never forgets a face and will kick you out. He still hasn’t forgiven you for your little library stunt.” He warned him.</p><p>He nodded. “Well, I’ll get back to my table then. I’ve been to the bathroom for a little too long and I won’t put it past them too look for me.” Youngkyun patted him on the shoulder as he turned around and walked back to the table.</p><p>He let out a little sigh in relief when he saw they already had drinks. That meant he could work up some courage before going over there. Even though Inseong wasn’t that intimidating, the annoyed glare on Taeyang’s face was.</p><p>“Hwi! Stop standing around and go take orders!”</p><p>~</p><p>“Why are people so annoying?” Youngkyun groaned as he gave the orders he collected to Jae.</p><p>“Because we’re still partly human.”</p><p>They both snorted before Jae nudged him.</p><p>“Hey, don’t those three look familiar to you? Those guys there in the booth by the window, the one with the frowny wolf.” Youngkyun froze, cursing quietly.</p><p>“Yeah, didn’t that short one stay over here that one time?” Wonpil added, just coming from the kitchen.</p><p><em>Shit. </em>“Y-yeah, it’s possible you’ve seen them before. I did a project with the fox before and the wolf is his mate. I met them here a couple of times last year. And that’s Chanhee, remember, my old friend I found recently.”</p><p>They both oh’ed, nodding their heads as they pretended to remember something that never happened.</p><p>He quickly escaped before they could ask any more questions. And immediately panicked when he saw the only table he could take a order from was the table he had been avoiding like the plague. He quickly looked around him to see if he could clean something or at least <em>pretend </em>to be busy.</p><p>“That table is waiting to order.” Younghyun pointed out, wiping down a table close to him.</p><p>“Can you take this table for me hyung? I think my wrist is acting up.” He pouted slightly, holding his arm to his chest.</p><p>Younghyun looked at him with a skeptical look. “Really? I just saw you pick up a box filled with brand new cups without a wince though.”</p><p><em>Why can’t you be an idiot like Jae and Wonpil</em>. “That’s the reason it’s acting up right now.” He inwardly winced at his tone, he didn’t even believe himself.</p><p>“Nice try you lazy cat. Go!” Younhyun shooed him away, busying himself with cleaning the table again.</p><p>Chanhee’s eyes widened comically when he saw him coming towards their table.</p><p>“Would you like to order?”</p><p>“Oh-oh, yeah! We would like the macrons and three- Youngkyun?” Inseong questioned when he finally looked up. Taeyang’s head shot up at the sound of his name.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” Inseong questioned in a shell-shocked voice.</p><p>He looked down at his apron before looking at him with an unimpressed look. “I work here.”</p><p>The conversation lapsed into an awkward silence with Inseong trying to think of something to say, Taeyang alternating between looking at his homework and Youngkyun and Chanhee just face-palming in the back.</p><p>“You were in the middle of ordering hyung-“</p><p>“What the fuck are they doing here?” Youngkyun sighed at Sunwoo’s voice.</p><p>“Jae will get mad if you harass costumers again, Woo.”</p><p>“Does it look like I care?”</p><p>Youngkyun held up his hands and moved to lean against the booth, right where Inseong was sitting. He watched as Sunwoo looked at him in confusion (normally he would never pass up on a little banter) but ultimately looked towards Taeyang.</p><p>“I’ll ask again-“ He was stopped when someone behind him pulled on his cat ear.</p><p>“You’re not asking anything you stubborn little shit. You still haven’t earned back the right to walk around in the main area, get your ass back to the kitchen and leave Hwi’s old friend and former project partners alone.” He hissed into his ear while dragging him away, ignoring his yells of pain and of confusion.</p><p>“They haven’t even <em>lived </em>here for a year yet, what the fuck-“ His sentence was cut short as the kitchen door fell shut behind them.</p><p>“Project partners?”</p><p>“Cliché, I know. But I was put on the spot.” He defended himself.</p><p>He pointed his little pencil towards Inseong. “And <em>you </em>were in the middle of ordering. What kind of macrons did you want?”</p><p>Inseong picked up the little menu and put on the back of the booth, sneakily laying his hand across Youngkyun’s. Youngkyun looked at it shortly but didn’t mention it and Chanhee and Taeyang cringed in the background, embarrassed by their hyung’s flirting.</p><p>“We wanted these macrons here and three hot chocolates, please.”</p><p>“Alright, your order will be ready in a bit.” Youngkyun smiled and made a move to walk away.</p><p>Chanhee waved quietly for his attention, looking at Taeyang before looking at him again.</p><p>Youngkyun shook his head, putting his little notebook away.</p><p>‘Just one sentence, please!’ He mouthed desperately.</p><p>He sighed heavily, turning around and walking away.</p><p>“Hey Taeyang,-“ He said over his shoulder. “I liked the flowers.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I feel like the ending's a bit rushed but wanted to post today, so sorry for that.<br/>Post you thoughts and/or theories in the comments, I love reading them.</p><p>Hope you guys liked it!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Is This A Cutscene</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chanhee looked up and snorted yet again. “Yeah, he gets very intense about his jewelry. Last time he took about an hour to get ready.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let's start with the angst!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Why can’t I go with Chanhee mama? He’ll get hurt out there without me! You know how clumsy he is! Especially after he wakes from a nap!” Little Youngkyun whined, his ears standing up right in indignation.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His mother laughed, flicking his ear. Making him whine even louder. “He’s with his mama and papa Hwiyoungie, and they are very capable warriors. You have nothing to worry about.”</em>
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<p>
  <em>“And his mama and papa are even stronger than your mama and papa! So stop worrying and start eating.” His father pointed his fork at him, giving him a stern look. (most parents taught their children when they were young to eat with cutlery but most dropped it when they were older, preferring to eat in a more animalistic way)</em>
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<p>
  <em>“Why are the panthers even guarding the borders? Nobody bothers us anyway.” Youngkyun asked, putting a big piece of meat in his mouth. His mama and papa hadn’t lied when they said they would make him the best meal he ever had.</em>
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<p>
  <em>“Some rumors that are most likely false anyway. Our friends just wanted to make sure nothing would happen, just think of it as a precaution.” His mother explained, wiping his mouth with a tissue and ts’king at him in disapproval. She never liked messy eaters.</em>
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<p>
  <em>“What is a ‘precootion’?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“A prec<strong>au</strong>tion. Something you do before an accident or something bad happens, just to be sure everything or everyone’s alright.” His father said.</em>
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<p>
  <em>They ate in silence for a while, focused on their food. Youngkyun pouted down at his now empty plate. He wanted to go with his friend and play with him some more! Normally when the panthers visited they would stay for a few weeks at the least, now they weren’t even here for a day and he was mad that he couldn’t go with them. He was strong! And fast! Even faster than Chanhee! He may a bit on the small side, but his mama was already teaching him how to use his size to his advantage! He yawned quietly in his hand, hoping his mama and papa didn’t see. He didn’t want to go to bed yet.</em>
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<p>
  <em>“I think someone is tired.” His papa mused, side eyeing his little boy.</em>
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<p>
  <em>“Don’t you think it’s time for bed Hwiyoungie?” His mama questioned knowingly, giving her plate to her mate when he made a grab for it. He quickly moved to the kitchen, any time he tried to convince Youngkyun to go to bed he would use his kitty eyes on him and he gave in every time. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“But I’mmot tired mama!” He protested, slurring his words slightly. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Are you sure baby?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He nodded with a loud hum, unaware that his tail was dropping slowly in tiredness. His mother smiled at him in amusement.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“That’s too bad, I put a little surprise in your room. But only good kittens who listen to their mommies get nice surprises.” She mused, starting down the little hallway towards his room.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Youngkyun jumped from his chair and ran after her, gripping onto her dress. “But maaammmaaa! I want the surprise! Please can I have it?! I promise I’ll be good! Please! Please! Please!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His mother laughed and nodded. “If you go brush your teeth now I’ll be waiting in your room with your surprise, okay?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He let out a loud chirrup as he ran towards the bathroom, one of the three only doors in the little hallway.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He hurriedly brushed his teeth and put on his pajama pants, running towards his room.</em>
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<p>
  <em>His mother was sitting on his bed when he opened the door and he wasted no time jumping in her lap, sneakily trying to get some scratches in before he had to sleep.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She smiled down at her kitten and scratched him gently behind his ear, earning her soft purring.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Where’s my surprise mama?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She dangled a thin white rope in front of his face, pulling it away slightly when he made a grab for it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Careful Hwiyoungie, this is you token for you first prey. Everyone gets it when they succeed at hunting one on their own. Don’t lose it, you only get one.” She warned him before taking his wrist and tying it around it carefully but tightly. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He turned his wrist around to see the smooth wooden piece hanging on it, a beautiful bird carved in it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hey! That looks like my bird!” He shouted in surprise. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“That’s because it is, it wouldn’t be much of a token if it didn’t have a picture on it would it?” His father came in and joined them on the bed. he turned the smooth wooden piece around. “And here are our initials, and the date you caught it together with your birth year. So now you have forever bragging rights.” His father joked, crying out in mock indignation when his mother almost pushed him off the little bed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He laughed at them, snuggling closer to his mama, before taking a closer look at the wooden piece. “Hey! Where are my initials?!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“You get to do that yourself baby. Do you want us to help?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>At his nod his father took a hold of the token and his mother a hold of his right hand, telling him to let his claws out. His father held the token tightly while his mother held his hand and carefully helped carve his own initials in it. The little family smiled when they were done, his mother giving him on last squeeze before standing up. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Good night baby. We’ll tell you more about your token tomorrow alright?” His mother reassured him before tucking him in, leaving a soft kiss on his forehead.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Good night Hwi, I’ll teach you some new tactics tomorrow if your mother allows it.” He whispered the last part to him, making him giggle before kissing his cheek.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>They both watched from the crack in the door how Youngkyun fiddled with his token some more, a happy smile on his face as he laid down and fell asleep quickly. The both of them smiling fondly as his mother closed the door quietly.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>~ </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He was roughly awakened from his sleep when his bedroom door was slammed open, his mother rushing in. He sleepily rubbed his eyes as he sat up, watching as his mother grabbed a bag and started frantically pushing things in it.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Mama? What are-“</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Get up and dressed Youngkyun, no time for questions.” She snapped as she threw the bag at an older kitten standing by the door.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“But mama-“</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She cut him off by pulling a shirt over his head and grabbing his hand, quickly pulling him along and out of their house.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He was about to try and ask again what was going on when he heard loud bangs going off around them. He froze as he saw the buildings a few streets away from them burning. He turned his head and saw the nice lady who always gave him fish laying face down on the ground, not moving. He was about to walk over when he was roughly pulled back.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Keep your eyes on the ground baby, okay? Just follow mama and everything will be alright.” His mother reassured him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“We need to hurry, they brought their own shifters and the panthers are losing.” The older kitten who was holding his bag informed them.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Where is everyone else?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“If they got out they should be following the river to the city, where we can shift and spread out.” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His mother was about to respond but was interrupted by blood curling screaming right next to them. They all froze for a second before they heard strange ripping sounds, the sounds sounded eerily like the sound you made when you tore raw meat of the bone in your animal skin.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Youngkyun tilted his head in confusion and turned to his mama, who quickly pulled him along at a fast pace. He cried out in fear when he heard heavy footsteps following them. He stumbled along the path, trying to keep up but his little body simply couldn’t.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>His instincts screamed at him to shift but his mother shut that idea down, simply telling him to run faster. They were nearing the tree line when Youngkyun tripped, his mother skidding to a stop a few feet away from him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Mama!!” He screamed, tears running down his face in fear. He screamed even louder when he felt something digging in his back, making long burning scratches across it. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He looked as his mother stood in shock before a guttural scream left her. She ran to him and jumped, shifting mid-air and lunging for the beast behind him. He heard low animalistic hisses and growls behind.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He was about to turn his head but Jisoo crouched down in front of him, hands on his cheeks to keep his head faced towards him. He cried when he heard a loud crack behind him and a very familiar voice screaming. He tried to turn his head again but Jisoo wasn’t letting him go. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Let go, I want my mama! Let go! Let go! Let go!” he screeched as Jisoo made move to pick him up.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hwiyoung wake up!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>He looked at him in confusion and a bit of anger.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“What are you talking about?!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hwi, please calm down!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“We’re right here kitten, just wake up!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Hwi!”</em>
</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“Hwi!”</p>
<p>He gasped loudly, immediately trashing around when he found out he couldn’t move his arms. He screamed, flinching at the hands that touched his face.</p>
<p>“Kim Youngkyun calm down! You’re ruining your bed and Bob’s face!” He quieted down in confusion at the familiar voice, letting out a distressed whine.</p>
<p>He opened his eyes, which he didn’t even realize he had closed, and came face to face with a relieved but still worried Jae and Younghyun. He stared at the scratch marks on Younghyun’s face and upper arms, his ears dropping and eyes filling with tears again.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry-“</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it kitten. We’re just glad you didn’t manage to hurt yourself too bad this time.” He made another confused noise before the pain in the palms of his hands finally made itself known.</p>
<p>He looked around the dark room in distress, not remembering where he was or how he got here. The only thing he knew is that he was still restrained and he had pain.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun look at me, alright?” He forced his eyes towards Jae once more, his breathing quickening. “Good job Kyunnie! Now, do you know where you are?-“ He shook his head, pulling at the hands restraining him. “-You’re in your room, right above the café where you try to get free food daily, remember? And we’re all here with you. Me, Younghyun, Sungjin, Wonpil and Dowoon. We’ve been trying to wake you up a for little while but we couldn’t wake you. Sungjin is restraining you right now because we were afraid you might hurt yourself. Do you think you’re okay enough so that he can let you go?”</p>
<p>He felt himself gradually calming down the longer Jae talked. He was in his bed right above the café where a few hours ago three of his mates we’re doing homework(or something, he never asked). He nodded to Jae and he felt Sungjin move out from behind him.</p>
<p>His guilt came rushing back when he saw the angry scratch marks on his face and arms, some deep enough to bleed.</p>
<p>“Jae, have you got this under control? Because me and Sungjin need to leave for a second.” Younghyun asked, sending a not so subtle look towards Youngkyun.</p>
<p>He nodded and waved for them to leave. And crawled in bed with him when they all left.</p>
<p>They laid in a peaceful silence for a second. He stared at the ceiling, his hair still standing on end.</p>
<p>“<em>Soo</em>, it’s been awhile since you had one of those. Is there something happening I should know about?” Jae asked in a tight voice.</p>
<p>He sighed and slowly turned to face him, mindful of his still extended claws. He was still too worked up to fully control his shift.</p>
<p>“I’m going to reach out and scratch you behind you ears alright?” Jae told him before doing it, giving him enough time to pull away. He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when his eyes returned to their familiar honey brown.</p>
<p>“Honestly I was expecting this, that’s why my favorite blankets and pillows are on the floor.”</p>
<p>Jae frowned in confusion but waited patiently, knowing there was a big chance if he talked now Youngkyun would stay silent.</p>
<p>He let out a big sigh and nuzzled into his nearly destroyed pillow. “I expected one right after the library thing. But… I think the reason it came this late is because I thought of it before going to sleep, and it’s first night after that that you let me sleep alone.”</p>
<p>“You said you were alright to sleep on your own Youngkyun.” He winced at use of his real name and at Jae’s disapproving tone.</p>
<p>“I thought I was! I swear!” His whining was muffled by the pillow. Jae chuckled slightly.</p>
<p>He pinched his ear and he turned to face him with a loud whine. “Don’t say you’re fine when you’re not you little shit. It’s a very bad habit to have.” He scolded with a fond voice.</p>
<p>“I don’t want you guys to worry, you’ve already done so much for me.”</p>
<p>“We’re always gonna worry Hwi, it’s kinda our job now as your big brothers.”</p>
<p>“Technically only <em>you </em>are my big brother.”</p>
<p>“Don’t be stupid, you know I’m the wine aunt and Younghyun and Sungjin the mom and dad.”</p>
<p>“Who are Wonpil and Dowoon then?” Youngkyun laughed.</p>
<p>“Wonpil is the oldest who thinks he’s always right and Dowoon is the forgotten middle child, you’re the youngest who gets away with everything because you’re cute.”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>He sighed as he left the bathroom, in nothing but a towel around his waist and one over his head. He was still drying his hair when he opened the door the living room. (Seriously, even when they seemed dry and you put the towel away and put your shirt they’re like; Surprise motherfucker!) He was very glad he only had evening classes today and not morning. He was pretty sure he would’ve just barricaded the door if he had.</p>
<p>“Well, this is certainly a nice surprise.”</p>
<p>He screeched and slammed the door back closed, his chest heaved as he frowned. He opened the door slightly again to see an amused Sanghyuk and Chanhee sitting on the couch. Behind them a worried Youngbin and… was that a jaguar? <em>Ohh </em>that must be Lee Jaeyoon, the only one he hasn’t met face to face yet.</p>
<p>“What-wait, no. <em>How</em> the fuck did you even get in here!?” He knew Sungjin would never let them in and they had to walk through the kitchen to get up here. And the kitchen is where the bear practically lived. (cons of being the main cook and the only one who could actually make the more complicated dishes)</p>
<p>“The other cat let us in through the side door.” Youngbin helpfully supplied.</p>
<p>“I don’t remember telling you we have a side door.”</p>
<p>“Juho told us.” Chanhee said.</p>
<p>He let out a big sigh and closed the door, walking to his room and putting on his clothes he already laid out. Dark blue jeans and a grey shirt with a black beanie and a black zip up hoodie he was going to wrap around his waist. (he hoped Chanhee didn’t recognize it)</p>
<p>He sighed and turned to the mirror hanging next to his desk and tugged on his beanie. <em>‘That was really close, seems like I have to keep my guard up in my own home now.’ </em>He thought to himself.</p>
<p>“You know phones exist for communication right?” He yelled at his door, putting on his bracelets.</p>
<p>“We texted you, you just didn’t check your phone.” Chanhee yelled back. He frowned and walked over to his phone, cursing when he saw both Chanhee and Youngbin did indeed text him, asking if they could walk him to school.</p>
<p> “But I didn’t answer. Why would you come over if didn’t answer yet.” He yelled in annoyance, slipping on his necklace. (he liked jewelry alright!)</p>
<p>He paused when he heard footsteps right outside his door. He pursed his lips and turned around, taking a few steps and opening the door.</p>
<p>They stared at him varying degrees of shock. Sanghyuk was at the back with Jaeyoon, Jaeyoon obviously holding him back from just barging in. Chanhee was leaning on the wall next to his door and Youngbin had his fist very close to his face, probably about to knock on his door.</p>
<p>“You guys are really fucking loud.” He simply said before leaving the door open and turning back towards his mirror. This necklace didn’t match as well with his outfit as he thought it would.</p>
<p>Chanhee immediately walked in and flopped down on his bed, taking his phone out. (he had already witnessed his pickiness when he stayed over and wasn’t surprised) The other three slowly walked in, Youngbin opting to sit in his desk chair and Jaeyoon and Sanghyuk choosing the floor.</p>
<p>“How did you even hear us, we were being quiet.” Sanghyuk complained.</p>
<p>“If that’s your definition of being quiet then I don’t understand how you ever sneak up on anyone.” He sassed back, holding two necklaces up to his shirt.</p>
<p>Chanhee snorted while Youngbin chuckled, playing with the necklace he just took off.</p>
<p>“But seriously, a normal housecat wouldn’t have heard us coming.” Jaeyoon spoke up for the first time.</p>
<p>“And you are…?” He trailed off, looking towards him through the mirror.</p>
<p>He coughed awkwardly in his hand. “I’m Lee Jaeyoon.” He nodded and gave him small smile through the mirror.</p>
<p>He put down the necklaces he was holding and searched through the pile he had on his desk.</p>
<p>“What necklace are you looking for Kyun?” Chanhee drawled from the bed, already tired of waiting.</p>
<p>“I have this dog-tag I got from Sunwoo for my last birthday which matches with this outfit and my bracelets, which I got from Yeosangie.” He rambled, huffing when he couldn’t find it.</p>
<p>“You want to wear mine?” Youngbin offered, slipping a dog-tag out from underneath his shirt.</p>
<p>He cocked his head and squatted down, looking at the necklace with a calculating frown. He ignored the gasp that came with his action.</p>
<p>Chanhee looked up and snorted yet again. “Yeah, he gets very intense about his jewelry. Last time he took about an hour to get ready.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean ‘last-“</p>
<p>“Can I…” Youngkyun trailed off as he held out his hand, his eyes focused on the necklace. Sanghyuk squawked when Youngkyun interrupted him.</p>
<p>Youngbin nodded and took it off, letting it dangle from his fingertips. Youngkyun took it with a small smile, discreetly scenting it. (he never said he didn’t like their scents, they’re just overwhelming the first time) He put it on and nodded. It looked a lot like his, only this one had words on only one side and was a tad bit smaller.</p>
<p>“You can wear the one you’re playing with if you want.” He said over his shoulder as he picked up his backpack and wallet.</p>
<p>“Are we just gonna ignore the fact he heard us coming or not.” Sanghyuk suddenly exclaimed, sitting up straight. “Because I still don’t know how you did that.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Damn it</em>
</p>
<p>“Like I said, housecats don’t have that good of hearing. He shouldn’t have been able to hear us.” Jaeyoon added.</p>
<p>
  <em>Double damn it</em>
</p>
<p>Youngbin pointedly looked at the necklace in his hand while Chanhee was suddenly engrossed in his phone. The both of them ignoring the confused jaguar and hyena.</p>
<p>
  <em>Thanks for the help traitors.</em>
</p>
<p>He simply shouldered his bag and walked towards his bedroom door. “Well, who said I was a housecat? Now hurry up or we’ll be late.”</p>
<p>He smiled to himself as he heard Sanghyuk stumbling after him, screeching something about ‘wild ones solidarity’. Chanhee fell of the bed laughing, landing on top of a confused Jaeyoon and Youngbin clapped his hands like a soundless seal, laughing silently.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And let's end with the fluff</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. So This Is Were You've Been Hiding?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Yeosang is our impulse control, if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea it probably isn’t.”</p>
<p>“Traitor.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Stay safe people, now with COVID-19. Wash your hands and try to stay home as much as you can!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“A little birdie told me <em>someone</em> had a little company while walking to school this morning.” Yeosang sang as he slid into the seat next to him right outside the cafeteria.</p>
<p>He looked up from his laptop with a unimpressed eyebrow raised. “Boo Seungkwan?”</p>
<p>“He can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.”</p>
<p>He laughed while shaking his head, turning back to his laptop. A small smile slid onto his face when he felt Yeosang’s expectant stare.</p>
<p>“You’re not gonna leave me alone until I tell you everything right?”</p>
<p>“Sharp as always Kyunnie! Now spill.”</p>
<p>He played with his necklace (Youngbin’s necklace, his brain helpfully reminded him) while he thought how he could word his morning.</p>
<p>Yeosang teasing smile slid off his face when he looked a little closer, noticing the fingerless gloves and the slight tremble in his hands, his brows furrowing the slightest bit. “Or do you want to talk about something else?”</p>
<p>He huffed out a laugh as he shook his head. “I’d rather not, thanks though.”</p>
<p>He ignored Yeosang’s worried look, sliding his phone out of his pocket. “Look what message I got when I was in the shower.”</p>
<p>Yeosang looked at his phone while he turned back towards his laptop, finishing the email he was writing before his friend disturbed him.</p>
<p>“They came over while you were in the shower? And Sungjin let them in?”</p>
<p>“Jae, the fucking traitor, let them in. And you never guess how I found out they were in my living room.”</p>
<p>“Please tell you had clothes on.”</p>
<p>“I had a towel.”</p>
<p>“Oh my god.”</p>
<p>“I know.”</p>
<p>“I’m gonna tell Sunwoo.” Yeosang said, standing up.</p>
<p>“Don’t you dare! He will never let me live this down!” He panicked while pulling him back down.</p>
<p>“It’s cute you think <em>I </em>will let you live this down.”</p>
<p>He barely managed to dodge the pen thrown his way.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>He played on his phone while he waited for his friends to join him, comfortably sitting against the big tree near the main doors of the university where Yeosang told him to save a spot.</p>
<p>He looked up when he heard fast approaching footsteps, seeing Yeosang, Sunwoo, San, Wooyoung and Seonghwa speed walking towards him.</p>
<p>“You’re never going to believe this Kyun!” Sunwoo shouted at him when they were close enough, dropping down next to him and immediately cuddling into his side.</p>
<p>“Does it have anything to do with Mark Tuan?”</p>
<p>“How did you know?” A now deflated Wooyoung asked.</p>
<p>“I only know it has something to do with him, not exactly what.”</p>
<p>“Then get ready because we have front row seats.” Sunwoo said excitedly.</p>
<p>“Who’s he gonna fight?”</p>
<p>“He’s now in a verbal fight, heading this way, with Jaebum, Youngjae and your brother.” Yeosang informed him, taking a sip of his drink.</p>
<p>“Which one?”</p>
<p>“Brian.”</p>
<p>“Wait! How did you know he was gonna fight someone?!” San suddenly shouted.</p>
<p>“Sunwoo only gets this excited if there’s gonna be a fight or if he gets to fight someone.”</p>
<p>“<em>Hey</em>! I also get excited for food!”</p>
<p>“My bad.” Yeosang laughed.</p>
<p>“Why is my brother here anyway?” Youngkyun questioned.</p>
<p>“He was visiting a few of his friends I think.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun pouted slightly, feeling a little hurt Younghyun didn’t tell him he was visiting.</p>
<p>“But why would he get involved in a fight?”</p>
<p>“Who’s getting involved in a fight?” A deep voice asked from behind them.</p>
<p>He turned towards the voice. (well as much as he could turn. Once Sunwoo decided to hug you, you were stuck until he let go) He waved to Zuho, Chanhee, Rowoon and Dawon who joined them underneath the three.</p>
<p>Seonghwa tensed up slightly while San and Wooyoung immediately started talking to the four newcomers. Chanhee raised an eyebrow at Sunwoo while Rowoon sent him a small glare, Sunwoo glaring right back.</p>
<p>Everyone relaxed when Juho and Dawon answered all the questions in an amused fashion, Chanhee leaning his head on Dawon’s shoulder while Rowoon cuddled into Juho.</p>
<p>“Kyun, who’s fighting?” Chanhee stage-whispered to him, ignoring Sunwoo’s small hiss.</p>
<p>“Do you know Mark Tuan?-“ He nodded. “Well apparently he and Youngjae got into a verbal fight and Jaebum took Youngjae’s side because they’re best friends. But Mark’s his mate and that only made him angrier, and somehow one of my brothers got involved in this and they’re heading this way as we speak.”</p>
<p>“Cool, I always love a good fight.”</p>
<p>“For the record, I still think it’s creepy how you can connect the dots and figure out what’s happening with minimal information.” Sunwoo pointed out.</p>
<p>“I second that!”</p>
<p>“I third that!”</p>
<p>“And I agree too.” Seonghwa ignored the two pouts he got when he didn’t follow.</p>
<p>“I think it’s normal though.”</p>
<p>“Yeah because the two of you are creepy like that!”</p>
<p>“Are not.”</p>
<p>“Are too!”</p>
<p>“Are not.”</p>
<p>“Are too!”</p>
<p>“Are not.”</p>
<p>“Are too!!”</p>
<p>“Sunwoo just give up, it’s two against one and they’re too stubborn to give up. You know this.” Seonghwa tried to placate them, already done with their bullshittery.</p>
<p>The four newcomers stared in fascination at the back and forth between the three cats, never having thought Youngkyun could be so childish. (Well except Chanhee. And <em>no </em>it’s not because they had similar discussion before!)</p>
<p>Sunwoo was about to reply when the main doors flung open, angry screaming following right after as an livid Mark Tuan stormed out.</p>
<p>“<em>Ohh</em>, it’s starting. Kyun, snacks please?” Sunwoo asked with big eyes. He huffed out a laugh but grabbed his bag and pulled out Skittles and some Pringles. He saw Yeosang doing the same across from him. (Yes they were those kids who always had food but rarely their books)</p>
<p>He saw the four newcomers looking confused and he took pity on them, gesturing for them to move closer and laying the snacks in front of him. Sunwoo hissed whenever they came too close and he lightly pulled his ear before scratching it, giving him a silent warning.</p>
<p>His brother and Jaebum followed, an angry but confused looking Youngjae following behind them.</p>
<p>Mark screamed something over his shoulder, Youngjae turned to Younghyun who talked to him shortly before he screamed something back. Mark turned around confused and looked at his brother again, who talked shortly again before screaming back. Jaebum took a step closer to Youngjae, which Mark growled angrily at.</p>
<p>“Is he… translating for them?” Rowoon asked, tilting his head in befuddlement.</p>
<p>Youngkyun nodded with a wince on his face. He tensed when Youngjae tried to lunge at Mark, Jaebum and Younghyun holding him back. Jaebum growled lowly at him and tried to shield Mark, who pushed him away with a withering glare.</p>
<p>Youngkyun facepalmed. “<em>The stupid wolf is too kind for his own good</em>.” He murmured while trying to untangle himself from Sunwoo.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” Rowoon questioned.</p>
<p>“Going over there so Brian can call Jinyoung and end this before he gets involved in a fight.” Sunwoo whined at that, tightening his vice-like grip on him.</p>
<p>“But… fights! Amusement! Please don’t stop it Kyun.” He pleaded with big eyes.</p>
<p>“If he gets hurt Jae will get annoyed and you won’t be able to visit today and eat the failed food.”</p>
<p>“What are you waiting for?! Go. Go.” He let him go and gave him a slight push, ignoring his glare.</p>
<p>“Youngkyun-ah are you sure about this?” A worried Rowoon asked him again. Juho and Dawon were eyeing the little fight while Chanhee looked vaguely worried too.</p>
<p>To be honest, <em>no </em>he was not. Those were all very big and very strong shifters there, and he did <em>not </em>like those. But he didn’t want his hyung to deal with it on his own when he clearly needed help.</p>
<p>“What are you even planning to do, you can’t take them in a fight and I doubt you want too anyway. And you’re not going to be able calm them down, so just sit down and let Brian handle this. He’s a big boy, he can handle himself.” Yeosang shut him down, griping his ankle when he tried to step over him.</p>
<p>“Well for your information! I was going to take his phone and call Mark’s pack members.” He argued, halfheartedly pulling his leg. He didn’t really want to go over there, but Younghyun looked progressively more nervous the longer the screaming match went on.</p>
<p>Yeosang gave him a look before he felt a second pair of arms encircling his legs. He stumbled and then glared down at Sunwoo.</p>
<p>“Yeosang is our impulse control, if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea it probably isn’t.”</p>
<p>“Traitor.”</p>
<p>“Shut up and sit down idiot. We’ll go help your brother out.” Chanhee snapped from behind him, pushing him into his friends arms on the ground.</p>
<p>He huffed out in shock, the little shit actually pushed him! And, yep, Sunwoo had him again. He bristled, his tail moving around under his shirt in agitation.</p>
<p>“I’ll get back at him for pushing you, don’t worry about it.” Sunwoo whispered in his ear.</p>
<p>“You can help me, but I already got a plan.” He murmured back, leaning back on Sunwoo’s chest. His arms laced themselves around his waist. Yeosang, who was laying across his legs, jabbed him in his side, ignoring his groan, and hissed out a ‘look!’.</p>
<p>His eyebrows rose when he saw Rowoon literally <em>pick up</em> Youngjae and walking away with him, Juho trailing behind him. Dawon held Mark back, but didn’t carry him away. Jaebum was trying to calm him down and was obviously failing, Mark was still screaming at him, while Younghyun walked a little ways away and got his phone out.</p>
<p>“I’m taking back my ‘I would fight them’, they would crush me like a fucking ant.” Sunwoo breathed out. A mix between awe, terrified and irritated.</p>
<p>They all chuckled nervously, still watching Mark lose his shit at Jaebum who also looked progressively more angry.</p>
<p>Chanhee moved slowly moved behind Jaebum and was about to restrain him too, when the main doors flung open again and five people rushed out.</p>
<p>“Oh look, there’s damage control. Late as always.” Sunwoo couldn’t help but let out, this time getting real laughs in response.</p>
<p>Dawon transferred the angry cheetah to the guy with the brown hair, fluffy brown matching ears popping out. The tallest one and the one with long legs joined him while the others surrounded Jaebum, seemingly scolding him.</p>
<p>Youngkyun breathed out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw Younghyun walking their way, Dawon and Chanhee following him. Ignoring the disappointed groans next to him and the slaps that followed.</p>
<p>“How is it that you, somehow, always find yourself in the middle of a fight. But the second I get in one, which only happened a handful of times mind you, I get grounded and you not.” Younghyun winced a litte at Youngkyun’s unimpressed look.</p>
<p>“Listen! I never start the fight! I’m just somehow friends with all the people who <em>do </em>the fighting, I just… translate…” He trailed off.</p>
<p>Youngkyun huffed at him before his eyes lit up mischievously.</p>
<p>“You know, these guys went out of their way help you. I think a ‘thank you’ is in place.” He said while picking at his nails, sending a quick wink to an amused looking Yeosang and ignoring Sunwoo’s huff behind him.</p>
<p>Younghyun stared at him with raised eyebrows, an ‘are you serious’-look on his face. He simply smirked in return and nodded towards the two suddenly very happy shifters next to him.</p>
<p>He gave him one last glare before turning to face to face them slowly, with an obviously forced smile on his face. “Thanks for the help, it was appreciated.” He managed to force out. His face soured even more at their shit-eating grins.</p>
<p>“What was that-“ Dawon’s taunting was interrupted by Rowoon slamming his shoulder, appearing out of nowhere.</p>
<p>“What he means to say is-“ Rowoon squeezed his shoulder tightly when he opened his mouth. “-you’re welcome.” He finished with an angelic smile.</p>
<p>“And if we didn’t go Kyun would have gone over there himself so we didn’t really have much of a choice.” Juho added.</p>
<p>Younghyun turned to face him with an incredulous look on his face, missing the glare Youngkyun sent Juho’s way.</p>
<p>“What does the tiger <em>mean</em>, you were about to go over there.” He asked in a dangerously calm voice.</p>
<p>Sunwoo hugged him a bit tighter as the both of them gulped, Yeosang laying frozen across his legs, looking up at them with wide eyes.</p>
<p>“I was going to pick pocket your phone and run away to call someone who could help you.” The three of them huddled together when they saw veins appearing on his neck. (Side note: veins mean we’re in big fat trouble)</p>
<p>“Hyung, we can see your veins again.” Sunwoo pointed towards his own neck. “Right around here…” He trailed off when he got two furious glares.</p>
<p>“First off, Sunwoo is supposed to be the impulsive idiot who gets in fights, not you Youngkyun!-”</p>
<p>“-<em>Hey!?</em>”</p>
<p>“Second off, what did I tell you about pick pocketing?!-“</p>
<p>“-To not get caught?”</p>
<p>“-No?! That next time I find out I’ll tell Wonpil about your snacks!”</p>
<p>“What?! I thought we made a-“</p>
<p>“And Yeosang, thank for stopping dumb and dumber again. You’re the only responsible one here apparently.”</p>
<p>“-Again, <em>hey?!</em>”</p>
<p>“How am I not responsible?! I live with Jae of all people!”</p>
<p>“Thank you hyung!”</p>
<p>“-Now you three better get your asses to class before I call Sungjin!”</p>
<p>“But break just started…” Yeosang paled slightly as Younghyun’s glare.</p>
<p>“You know what, we’ll find a class. Don’t worry about it hyung!” Sunwoo pulled a confused Yeosang up with the help of Youngkyun.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“Are you sure you okay Kyun?” Sunwoo asked from his table. He decided to be responsible for once and make his homework while Youngkyun worked in the library, instead of badgering him for gossip like he usually did. (And it had totally nothing to do with Younghyun scolding from earlier according to him)</p>
<p>“Yeah why wouldn’t I be? You guys saved from a very probable panic attack in front of my mates, who already are as over-protective as can be.” Youngkyun laughed the question off.</p>
<p>“You know you can’t change the subject so easily with me Kyun. And don’t think I didn’t notice your gloves.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun suppressed a wince and kept his facial expression even. It was really easy to forget that Sunwoo was a pro at reading body language and facial expression sometimes.</p>
<p>“These gloves happen to match with this hoodie, I don’t kn-“</p>
<p>“This may work on Sangie but not me, so cut the bullshit and tell me what happened.” He deadpanned, abandoning his homework.</p>
<p>They both looked up when they heard someone clearing their throat.</p>
<p>“O-oh, I’m sorry miss Kim.”</p>
<p>She gave him one last look before continuing on her way. Sunwoo glared in Youngkyun’s direction when he heard snickering.</p>
<p>“You just love this don’t you?”</p>
<p>“I never got caught cursing by miss Kim before, just saying.” He smirked while he held his hands up.</p>
<p>“Laugh all you want, you’re not changing the subject. Speak before I’ll come over there.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Please drop it, please drop it, please drop it, please- </em>
</p>
<p>“And I’m not dropping it just because you’re ignoring me.”</p>
<p>
  <em>Why doesn’t anyone ever listen to my inner ramblings?!</em>
</p>
<p>He sighed and dropped a book back on the cart, turning around and walking over to the table where Sunwoo was sitting, slumping down on a chair in front of him. (And no, he did <em>not </em>stomp over there and let himself in the chair like a drama king. No matter what he tells you!)</p>
<p>Sunwoo looked at him in amusement before holding out his hand, ignoring Youngkyun’s glare.</p>
<p>“You can keep on glaring at me but you know I’m going to come over there and take your glove off myself if you don’t hurry.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun huffed not unlike a little child and slammed his hand down on Sunwoo’s, smirking slightly when he heard his little wince.</p>
<p>Sunwoo gave him a look, which he ignored, before he carefully pulled his glove off. He paused for a second before breathing out heavily through his nose.</p>
<p>“You haven’t had a nightmare like that in a while.”</p>
<p>“How did you know?”</p>
<p>“Did you hit your head or something? I used to calm you way before those knuckleheads you call brothers.”</p>
<p>“You call them brother too though.”</p>
<p>“If it were up to me I’d only call Jae brother, but Brian and Sungjin would probably scold me if I didn’t.”</p>
<p>Sunwoo smiled when he heard Youngkyun’s amused laugh. He returned his attention back to his hand, lightly skimming his fingertips over the raw looking scabs. He immediately pulled back when he heard a hiss. He murmured out an apology.</p>
<p>“What was the cause of it anyway, hasn’t it been like a week since the idiots ambushed you?”</p>
<p>“That’s exactly what I thought! So I told the ‘knuckleheads’ I could sleep on my own. And it just ambushed me and now I can’t even make a fist anymore.”</p>
<p>Sunwoo sighed and squeezed his wrist, pulling his glove back on.</p>
<p>“This wouldn’t have happened if you never met those idiots-“</p>
<p>“Not this again-“</p>
<p>“I know, I know. But I’m right! If you never met them, they wouldn’t have ambushed you in the library, hurt you, and cause you to relive one of the most painful moments of your life!”</p>
<p>Youngkyun sighed and pulled his hand back, giving him an incredulous look. “Sunwoo. Listen to me very carefully! I. Am. Giving. My. Mates. A. Chance! You don’t have to like it but it’s my decision and I expect you to respect that!”</p>
<p>Sunwoo glared at the table. “I do. I do respect your decision!-“ He hissed out, not moving his glare away from the table. “But they make it so hard to-to…” He trailed off.</p>
<p>“I know, but they’re actually making an effort now. And remember, if they make a mistake like that again you-“</p>
<p>“I get to antagonize them all I want. I know.” He finally lifted his head up and faced him. “I just really don’t like it.”</p>
<p>Youngkyun chuckled. “I believe you made that <em>very</em> clear.”</p>
<p>“And you remember-“</p>
<p>“They’re not my only option, I know.” He parroted him, making Sunwoo smile.</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>He let out a long suffering sigh as he walked all the way back to his locker, his dumbass forgot he left the book he needed for tomorrow in his locker. And he knew that if he left it for next morning, he would say damn it and leave the damn book in his locker. Normally he wouldn’t mind but he was already halfway home before he realized the book wasn’t in his backpack and he had to walk all the way back here and he just wanted to take a well deserved nap.</p>
<p>He almost let out a whoop when the hallway with his locker with it came in sight, but he didn’t, because y’know, he has a reputation to uphold.</p>
<p>He quickly typed in the password and threw his locker open, almost missing the little paper that fell out with it in his haste.</p>
<p>He frowned while he bended to pick it up. He was pretty sure he kept all of his stray papers in a big envelope to prevent this from happening.</p>
<p>He folded it open and felt his blood run cold.</p>
<p>
  <em>So this is where you’ve been hiding kitty?</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you guys liked it!<br/>Write your thoughts in the comments, I love reading them!</p>
<p>(This is unbeta'd)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Secrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Then you have never met Sunwoo, he’s still holding a grudge over the fact a guy dropped a pudding cup on his favorite shirt.”</p><p>“Well I would be mad too-“</p><p>“It was four years ago.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>YES I KNOW IT'S LATE BUT I BOUGHT ANIMAL CROSSING AND IT HAS TAKEN OVER MY LIFE</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He threw a pillow at the door when he heard the banging again, pulling the covers tighter over his head.</p><p>“Hwiyoung it’s been two <em>whole </em>days, get out of your goddamn room! We have school in case you forgot!” Sunwoo screamed through the door once again, not letting up on his banging.</p><p>He simply threw a stuffed animal this time, mentally apologizing to it. He heard someone else come up to the door (probably Jae) and pull Sunwoo away.</p><p>“Just calm down firecracker, he’ll come out last minute like he always does and…” He heard Jae reassure his best friend. He bit away the guilt for worrying him.</p><p>He hadn’t left his room since he got the note two days ago. (thank god it was Friday that day, and he was pretty sure Younghyun would personally break down his door if he tried to stay home again) He <em>knew</em> who wrote him that note. But he had no idea <em>how</em> they even figured out where he was, he was supposed to be dead to them. He made sure he was. He changed his name, let his hair grow out, made sure his tail and ears were hidden at all times, he was careful with who he told-</p><p>He sat up with wide eyes. <em>Has </em>he been careful with telling people? He knew his brothers would take the fact that he was Bengal with them to the grave if he wanted them too, and Sunwoo and Yeosang would never betray his trust like that. And that only left two people. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, grabbing a random hoodie and beanie off the ground and stalking towards his door.</p><p>He was about to walk out when he remembered the cause of his stress and looked at the little note, thrown carelessly on his desk. He gulped but reached for it anyway. He didn’t want to leave it laying around and cause unnecessary stress in case he was wrong. (he was pretty sure he wasn’t, but a guy could hope)</p><p>He ripped the door open and ignored Jae’s and Sunwoo’s wide eyes and continued his way. Grabbing the backpack Younghyun offered him with one hand and his lunch Sungjin offered with the other.</p><p>“Sunwoo stop bickering with Jae and get your coat, I have something to do and I want to do it before classes start.”</p><p>~</p><p>“Youngkyun will you slow down for a second and tell me what’s going on?” Sunwoo complained from behind him, tugging at his arm.</p><p>Youngkyun ignored him and pulled him along. He didn’t want to take his anger out on his friend who didn’t do anything and would probably turn it into an argument which he did not have the time for now. He almost sighed in relief when he saw the university.</p><p>He turned to face him quickly, forcing Sunwoo to stop his whining. “Okay listen very carefully because I’m not going to repeat myself. I think someone told a very secret, well, secret of mine, and I’m going to check if they did. And if they did you get my full permission to be the most annoying thing god has ever created to them, but in order for you to do that I gotta go <em>now</em>.”</p><p>Sunwoo looked at him in confusion but let go of his arm and nodded, giving him a thumbs up. Youngkyun quickly turned around and dashed through the doors, hoping Chanhee got his message and would be waiting.</p><p>He speed-walked to the little study rooms towards the back of the building. He tried to calm down and think rationally, but he simply couldn’t. He hated it when he thought he could trust people and it turned out he didn’t. And yes, he knew he was being a little presumptuous here, but there was nobody who even knew otherwise!</p><p>He started walking slower when he saw the hallway and headed towards room 9. He stopped in front of the door in an vain attempt at calming down, the only thing he managed to do was get his scent back under control. He shook his head and reached for the door handle, trying to hear if they were already in the room. He sucked in his breath when he heard them talking quietly.</p><p>He calmly opened the door, trying his best to appear composed. He ignored their friendly greetings and gave them a cold look.</p><p>“Hey Kyun-“</p><p>“I have no time for pleasantries, I only have one question for you two.”</p><p>The two looked at him wide-eyed before Youngbin took a worried step forward.</p><p>“Did something happen-“</p><p>“Did you guys tell anyone or talk in public about the fact that I’m a Bengal or not?” He cut in.</p><p>They shared a look before looking back at him.</p><p>“No, we pretty much only talked about it on the phone…” Chanhee trailed off, frowning when he saw Youngkyun starting to pace.</p><p>“Over text or calls?”</p><p>“Texts I think- why is any of this important anyway?” Chanhee questioned him, looking a little hurt.</p><p>“Believe me, it’s very important!” He spat.</p><p>Youngbin approached him slowly with his hands in the air, nearing him as if he was a wild animal who would attack him if he made a wrong move. “Before we continue this conversation, I just want you to take a deep breath okay?”</p><p>He glared at him in annoyance, they were only stalling and he didn’t have a lot of time before class. “Just answer the damn question and I’ll be on my way!”</p><p>“Kyun, your eyes are turning green.” Chanhee looked worried but didn’t step closer.</p><p>He clenched his jaw and forced back his claws when they threatened to come out. “Just answer it!” He shouted</p><p>“Yes! We talked about on the phone once! Now will you tell us what’s going on?” Youngbin cried out, frustration bleeding into his voice.</p><p>He reached up and tugged at his hair, letting out a loud hiss before turning around and walking to the door.</p><p>“H-hey?! Wait a second! Don’t we get any sort of explanation for this?!” Chanhee shouted after him.</p><p>He turned his head sideways, not even trying to suppress his hiss. “I think you’ve done enough, thanks.”</p><p>He slammed the door behind and walked away, trying to find a way to solve this situation in a way that didn’t involve moving away.</p><p>~</p><p>“Why the hell are you doing here? Weren’t you done with your classes like, three hours ago?” Hyunjin asked in genuine surprise, checking his wristwatch.</p><p>Youngkyun chuckled as his friend took a seat across from him. He was doing some research in the university library and… he hadn’t gotten any further with his <em>little </em>problem, much to his frustration.</p><p>“Yeah, but I forgot I needed to do some research and the boys have a karaoke day today, soo…” Hyunjin winced. Nobody has forgotten the great crime against music from 2017. (spoiler alert; it was catastrophic, Jae tried the drums and it just all went downhill from there on)</p><p>“<em>Andd, </em>how have your <em>other</em> boys been doing?” Hyunjin smirked, leaning his head on his hand.</p><p>He simply huffed, his gaze returning to his laptop screen.</p><p>“<em>That </em>bad?”</p><p>“I told two of them a secret and, like the fucking idiots they are, they talked about it in public and now I’m in trouble.”</p><p><em>“Ouch, </em>so what are you gonna do now?”</p><p>“Specify please.”</p><p>“Let’s start with the idiots.”</p><p>Youngkyun sighed and closed the black notebook which contained all of his research, which… was emptier than he liked it to be.</p><p>“They’re lucky if I even look in their direction again, let alone <em>think </em>of talking to them.”</p><p>“But only <em>two </em>of them let your secret slip, not the rest of them…” He trailed off when he saw Youngkyun raise his eyebrow at him.</p><p>“And the only reason for <em>that</em> is that the rest didn’t even know.”</p><p>Hyunjin sighed dramatically while laying his head on his outstretched arm. “You are very unreasonable, you know that?”</p><p>“Then you have never met Sunwoo, he’s still holding a grudge over the fact a guy dropped a pudding cup on his favorite shirt.”</p><p>“Well I would be mad too-“</p><p>“It was four years ago.”</p><p>“<em>No.</em>”</p><p>“And the poor guy apologized like a bazillion times.”</p><p>“Oh my god-“</p><p>“-I know.”</p><p>“-Now I get why you two get along so well, pettiness attracts pettiness.”</p><p>Hyunjin ignored Youngkyun’s unimpressed glare, proud of his little observation.</p><p>“What about Yeosang then?”</p><p>“Shut up, he used to be just as bad you two. Meeting his mates mellowed him out a bit.” He lowered his voice.  “<em>I was secretly hoping it would be the same case for you.</em>”</p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“What was that last bit?”</p><p>“That his mates mellowed him out?”</p><p>Youngkyun scoffed at him but didn’t comment any further, making Hyunjin sigh in relief. He furrowed his brows when he saw Youngkyun packing up though.</p><p>“Where are you going? I thought you were doing some research?”</p><p>“I’ve been at this for three hours, I’ll walk around for a little bit and then head home. I’m hoping they’re done by the time I get there.”</p><p>Hyunjin laughed before he seemed to realize something, his ears upright as he stood up from his seat in a rush. “But you said that your secret got you in trouble?!”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Is it a smart idea to walk around by yourself then? If you want I can go with you?” Hyunjin offered, worried gaze trained on his friend.</p><p>Youngkyun paused for a second, thinking it over. <em>Maybe </em>it wasn’t a good idea to walk around alone now, but he didn’t think they would do anything this soon. And he really wanted to be alone for an hour or two, that’s why he came to the library in the first place, but miss Kim found him and didn’t leave him alone during the first hour, and then he had to fend off the annoying people who wanted to know the newest rumors during the second hour. It was really tiring to be a part of the rumor mill sometimes. ‘Maybe that’s why Sunwoo declined to be a part of it.’ He pondered to himself. He looked up when he heard Hyunjin clear his throat, feeling his cheeks grow slightly hot when he realized he lost himself in his thoughts. It sometimes happened when he found something that took over his every thought.</p><p>“Penny for your thoughts?”</p><p>“My thoughts are worth much more than a penny.”</p><p>“Har-har, now answer mee.” He whined.</p><p>“I appreciate the offer but I’m fine. I’m only stopping by the store before going home, maybe the park if the ice-cream guy is there.”</p><p>“If you say so…” Hyunjin looked at him with an unsure look.</p><p>He chuckled and gripped his shoulder in a comforting grip. “Calm down you big softie, you know that even if somebody was planning anything, I would be gone before they spotted me.”</p><p>“You <em>are</em> very aware of your surroundings most of the time…” He admitted.</p><p>“<em>And </em>Woojin will scold you again if you try to skip class and Chan will give you his patented ‘disappointed father’ look.”</p><p>“You know what? You’re very right and you’re very able to take care of yourself! Goodbye Kyunnie!” He said with a big smile before running away in a frenzy.</p><p>~</p><p>He let out a big sigh as he slammed his little notebook closed, frustrated with the lack of information. He threw it in his backpack and fished out some left over chips he hoped he hadn’t opened to long ago. He rolled his eyes as he took a bite, feeling his phone buzz again. He had put it on silent when he was in the library and when he checked his phone he was greeted by a million texts and missed calls, more than half from unknown numbers. (he put two and two together when he saw the text ‘please excuse our dumb mates, they meant no harm and are very sorry.’)</p><p>He picked up his backpack and tried to walk home. (key word, <em>tried</em>) He let out a loud groan when he felt his phone buzz again and groaned even louder when he saw the words ‘Kim Youngbin’ displayed on his screen. If he picked up he would have to listen to the rational bear and ‘realize’’  he had no reason to stay angry because they didn’t know it was such a well-kept secret and he was in no mood to be rational now. Rational Youngkyun could make his return tomorrow, today was Unreasonable Youngkyun’s day. He was about to decline the call when his attention was called by the slight aching in his chest, his soulbonds screaming for attention. The stupid little things only got more stronger the better he got to know them and now he could even slightly feel Youngbin’s worry and he could almost <em>taste </em>Chanhee’s frustration, a teeny tiny bit of worry sprinkled in between.</p><p>He started on his walk home and accepted the call, amusement next to immediately overtaking his annoyance when he realized they didn’t realize he had actually accepted the call.</p><p>“Tyang, pass me the potatoes, Youngbin’s still glued to his phone.”</p><p>“Shut it Dawon. This is my last try okay!”</p><p>“He said three tries ago…” He heard Jaeyoon quietly mumble.</p><p>“He’s not going to pick up Youngbin, just get off your phone and eat your dinner.”</p><p>“But it’s our fault he’s mad-“</p><p>“No! This time it’s not our fault! He should’ve told us that-“</p><p>“I should’ve told you what Channie? That it was a secret? Well excuse me for thinking the beanies and hoodies would clue you in.” He said in a bittersweet tone.</p><p>He almost laughed out loud when he heard the stunned silence, being able to very clearly imagine their faces.</p><p>He almost hung up when they all started screaming at once, some stupid force keeping him from ending the call. (it was amusement, he was very sure it was amusement. It was a very amusing moment.)</p><p>He was about to make another smartass comment when he was beat to the punch.</p><p>“How was I supposed to know?! You never told me it was a secret!” Chanhee somehow managed to scream over all of the noise. There was a small scuffle before he heard his voice clearer.</p><p>“I’m not a fucking mind reader Kyun! When you expect something of me you gotta tell me!”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure I told Youngbin it was well kept secret though?”</p><p>He heard another small scuffle before Youngbin’s voice spoke.</p><p>“When did you do that?”</p><p>He let out a long sigh. (he was sighing a lot lately, wasn’t he?) “When you came to my brothers café and we went up to the apartment and I almost chocked on the cookie and you thought it was good idea to wash it away with <em>hot </em>chocolate milk?”</p><p>He heard a quiet ‘<em>Ooh</em>’ from the phone and facepalmed, ignoring the strange looks he got.</p><p>“Wait, when did you go up to his-“</p><p>“Why would you think that <em>hot</em>-“</p><p>“Moving on! So it seems that I also have some fault in this.” Youngbin interrupted Taeyang and Inseong.</p><p>“Still. Youngkyun, communicate with us will you? The chasing thing could have also been avoided if you just screamed ‘I’m a cat!’ at us and or something!”</p><p>He clenched his jaw. “I only tell people who ask me because it’s my business who I do and don’t tell.”</p><p>“But Youngkyun-ah, even though we’ve done a lot wrong, some things could have been avoided if you also took the time to seek us out.” Rowoon commented in the background.</p><p>He felt his hair rise slightly and was about to snap something back when a familiar scent wafted past him.</p><p>He muted the phone and slightly turned his head to the side, his blood running cold. He held his breath when he saw the familiar and unwelcome silhouette from Jack Johnson moving towards the bench he just vacated, taking a seat. Youngkyun quickly hid behind a tree and put on his hoodie, taking of his beanie and letting his cat ears rise. He concentrated on Jack and almost jumped in joy when he heard his voice, he was worried he had forgotten how to focus his hearing on one place, it has been a long time since he had to do so.</p><p>“I don’t have the cat yet, but I have found some people who know him-“ Jack’s eye twitched in annoyance as the person on the other line cut him off.</p><p>‘Come on, come on! Just say a name and I’ll know if I have been stressing for nothing.’ Youngkyun thought frantically, wanting nothing more than to run away but also wanting to know if he’d been right.</p><p>“And I told you! You need to have patience. If this Youngkyun guy really is a Bengal then it’s probably also a secret. It was just bad luck that the rumor guy got away, I was so close to catching him!” He rolled his eyes at the response the person on the other side gave him.</p><p>He let out an aggravated sigh and responded. “Goddamn it Jaehyun! Do you want this particular cat or not?! Then give me some more time to make sure it’s <em>actually</em> the cat you want, alright?”</p><p>The ground seemed to sway underneath his feet. He fell against the tree, barely feeling the rough scrape of the bark at his already injured palms.</p><p>“No no no no…” He muttered to himself, his ears folding back.</p><p>He could swear he could feel his heart stop when his eyes locked with Jack, who stared back at him in shock before hanging up the phone. Jumping up from the bench and running towards him.</p><p>“Get to the fucking park!” Was the last thing SF9 heard through the phone before the line was cut off.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope you guys liked it, and sorry again for the late update!!</p><p>And try and stay at home for as much as possible!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Secrets Revealed (Kind Of)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This was not how he planned to spend his afternoon</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This was <em>not </em>how he planned to spend his afternoon. Normally when he <em>happened </em>to walk onto a conversation which sounded somewhat interesting, the people never even found out he was <em>there</em>. And now he was running through the park, the stupidly fast human right on his tail because he couldn’t keep his <em>fucking </em>cool <em>or</em> his emotions under control. And you know what? He hasn’t been able to keep his cool for quite some time, right around the time when his <em>dear</em> mates decided to showed up. Mates who did not know how to keep goddamn secret apparently. (and <em>no</em>, he did not spy on people, he just happened to listen without them knowing he was listening. And <em>yes, </em>he was still salty about the fact his mates were utter idiots)</p><p>“Come on kitty-cat! Just tell me where I can find Park Youngkyun and I won’t have to bother you again! Or are <em>you </em>Park Youngkyun by any chance?” Jack taunted from behind him. He once again cursed the fact that he continuously rejected Sunwoo’s offers to go the gym with him.</p><p>He ignored the annoying human behind him and hoped he wasn’t smart enough to pick up on the fact he’s only been taking left turns. If he managed to get back to the entrance of the park he might be lucky and his idiots would be waiting, or they weren’t there and he could disappear in the crowd and flee into the woods that were close by. He could shift and hide in the trees until he went away or attack him himself if the opportunity presented itself. (he may be leaning more towards the second option, the only thing the human had going for him was his speed. And shifters, no matter what breed, are always stronger than humans)</p><p>He frowned when he saw two people step onto the path he was running on, meaning he was going to run them over if he or them didn’t move soon. He shouted at them to get the hell out of his way and tilted his head when they turned to him and didn’t move. His eyes widened when they ran his way and he quickly darted to the side. He clenched his teeth when he heard Jack’s gleeful laugh behind him, letting his claws come out. He hissed when they grazed the wounds on his palms.</p><p>He pulled on the drawstrings of his hoodie, securing it so it won’t fall off.(and thanking his lucky stars that it somehow didn’t fall off yet) He unclenched his teeth and smirked when his eye sight bettered and teeth sharpened, he wasn’t out of tricks just yet. He ran straight towards one of the four walls that surrounded the park, separating it from the woods.</p><p>“Just stop running already! We have you surrounded anyway!” Jack shouted from behind him, his voice filled with mirth. He smirked yet again when he heard how out of breath he was.</p><p>This time he was smarter than their last encounter. Instead of dashing away at top speed, tiring him out far faster than if he used his regular speed, he only used a fraction of his normal speed. Which was more than enough to leave an human in the dust, even a fast one. And the only reason Jack had almost gotten him last time is because being able to run at top speed and being able to <em>keep </em>running at top speed are two very different things.</p><p>He took a deep breath and sped up a little, jumping onto the little ramp right before the wall and using his momentum plus his speed to give him an extra boost as he forced his legs to jump, gripping the top of the wall, hanging there in a crouch for a second before pulling himself over. He landed lightly on his feet on the other side but rolled over once to make sure he didn’t injure his ankles. (in his cat form he always landed on his feet and he took that habit with him in his human form when he was a kid, resulting in multiple twisted ankles and even a broken one that one time)</p><p>He snickered when he heard the frustrated yells behind him and quickly ran further into the woods, scaling the first capable tree he saw. He slumped on the highest branch that could hold his weight and let out a deep breath, slightly tired from the little chase. His satisfied smile slowly slid off his face when he remembered the reason why the chase happened in the first place. He started roughly fiddling with his fingers, hoping the pain could distract him a little while longer so he could find his way home and break down there.</p><p>He brought his knees up and rested his forehead on them, his breathing picking when it dawned on him that his hunch was actually right. His tail tightened around his waist, the hairs prickling his abdomen. His hands gripped his ankles, rolling himself into the tiniest ball he could manage while not falling of his branch. He ignored the pain on his palms and ankles when his claws pierced the skin there as he closed his eyes, his breathing shallow.</p><p>
  <em>He can’t know I’m here! I was so thorough with my disappearance. I even had help, Jisoo helped him-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh god Jisoo now his help will be in vain! Shit shit shit-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Jaehyun was supposed to be part of his fucked up past which he would never get over goddamn it! </em>
</p><p>
  <em>If he found him again he would never get away again he would have to stay and he would make him-</em>
</p><p>“Youngkyun?!”</p><p>“Youngkyun is that you up there?!”</p><p>His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he heard the familiar voices scream from beneath him. He took a rasping breath and panicked when he noticed he <em>couldn’t breathe</em>.</p><p>“Youngkyun, calm down!”</p><p>He started when he felt a hand on his back, a clawed hand coming up to defend himself. His wrist was caught in  a tight grip and he let an out a low growl, bringing up his other hand. He was forced out of his little ball when the person used his wrists to pull him up. He let out a loud hiss, bracing his feet on the branch beneath him. He whirled around and came face to face with an very shocked Chanhee.</p><p>“What the fuck happened Youngkyun?!”</p><p>He hissed in response and leaned forward to try and headbutt him. Chanhee moved away with a yell.</p><p>“Guys! I’m gonna need some help here!” Chanhee yelled.</p><p>They struggled for a bit more, Chanhee trying to creep closer to properly restrain him while Youngkyun did anything in his power to get his arms free. He managed to free one of his wrist with a loud hiss and moved forward to scratch the arm that was still holding onto his other. He let out a confused hum when his hand was grabbed from behind, he didn’t even hear anyone coming up behind him. He tried to pull away but with a strong pull, and a swift push from Chanhee, he was forced into the chest of the person behind him. Almost immediately arms were around him, successfully restraining him. He let out a loud cry and tried to bite down on the arms, letting out annoyed hiss when his neck was too short to reach the arms. He settled for trashing around like lunatic instead.</p><p>“What the fuck happened to him Chanhee!?” A very deep voice yelled from behind him.</p><p>“I arrived at the same time that you did hyung! How would I know?!”</p><p>“Don’t be a smartass and help me get him down, he’s stronger than he looks.”</p><p>He tried to bite at Chanhee as he came closer, hissing while simultaneously trying to kick the guy behind him. Satisfaction ran through him when he heard a deep grunt.</p><p>“Okay guys, get ready! We’re coming down.”</p><p>He trashed even more when he heard multiple voices answer, letting out loud hisses and growls. He bit at anything that came near his face. The grip around him tightened to a painful degree but it didn’t stop his thrashing at all, only making him more frantic.</p><p>
  <em>No no no no no they wouldn’t take him back without a fight-</em>
</p><p>He paused when the grip around was gone, airborne for a few seconds. He instinctively shifted mid-air and landed on all fours. He barely got a hiss out before he felt somebody grab his arms again, another pair of arms tangling themselves around his legs.</p><p>Another one grabbed his face and he panicked even more, growing more tense and trashing about even more. There were screams all around him and his breathing only grew shallower.</p><p>
  <em>They got me I’m so sorry Jisoo-hyung I’m so so-</em>
</p><p>“Youngkyun! Look at me! Come on kitten, we’re not here to hurt you.” A calming voice spoke to him.</p><p>He let out a confused whine, his eyes trying to focus on the blurry face in front of him.</p><p>“That’s it Kyun, come back to us.” He froze in confusion at the soft touch on his cheek, not knowing whether to try and bite the hand or nuzzle into it.</p><p>He blinked several times, trying to clear the blurry face. He let out a raspy breath, still weakly pulling at his arms.</p><p>“Y-youngbin?” He winced at his raspy tone.</p><p>Youngbin smiled down at him, stroking his cheek in a calmer manner. He moved forward and gently pushed Youngkyun’s head to rest on his shoulder, letting his scent calm him down.</p><p>“Who did you think I was kitten?” He asked in an amused voice.(if he was in his right mind he might’ve heard the worried undertone, but he was still too tired to do anything but lean on him)</p><p>He didn’t answer and simply let his forehead rest on his shoulder, a sudden hit of fatigue hitting him.</p><p>“I’m sorry for scratching you.” He said in louder voice.</p><p>“Don’t forget the biting.”</p><p>“Or the kicking, let’s not forget the kicking.”</p><p>He let out a breathless chuckle at Zuho and Chanhee’s remarks. There was a small silence, in which he relaxed bit by bit into the person behind him.</p><p>“<em>Soo</em>, are we going to ask why he turned savage on us or not?”</p><p>He tensed again and let out the smallest hiss, missing Youngbin’s tired sigh and the smack that followed.</p><p>“Read the mood Dawon, read the mood.”</p><p>The group started to bicker, Youngbin letting out a another sigh before he petted his head and moved away. Standing up and trying to silence his rowdy mates.</p><p>He kept his eyes closed as he leaned into the chest of the person behind him, letting the arms sneak around his waist, too tired to snap at the person.</p><p>“Tired from your little episode, hmm?” A deep voice asked from behind him. He nodded and leaned his head on his shoulder, letting out a little sigh when his legs were let go.</p><p>He frowned when someone cupped his cheek, trying to move away.</p><p>“Taeyang, are you sure-“</p><p>“Open your eyes for me please, I just wanna check if your eyes are back to normal.” He interrupted the lion behind him.</p><p>He sighed but did as he was told, knowing his eyes hadn’t changed back yet. And probably wouldn’t change back until he got home. He scooted back when he saw how close the wolf was, unconsciously looking up in his eyes. (Excuse him, he was tired and just had a panic attack. He was allowed to make small mistakes)</p><p>Taeyang’s eyes widened slightly too, his cheeks reddening the slightest bit. “You have pretty eyes.” he blurted out.</p><p>Youngkyun blinked at him, feeling the chest pressed against his back shaking with silent laughter.</p><p>“Smooth Tyang, real smooth.” Dawon deadpanned.</p><p>Taeyang flushed and quickly pressed their foreheads together once before standing up and stalking towards a laughing Dawon, missing the way Youngkyun flushed at the small act. Youngbin held him back before he could reach and gave him a small glare.</p><p>“Can we at least ask about the badass jump from earlier?” Dawon complained, Jaeyoon agreeing with him.</p><p>“I’m actually curious about that too.” Inseong raised his hand.</p><p>“Hyung we’re not in a class room.” He simply glowered at Chanhee, letting his hand fall back to his side.</p><p>He felt his lips twitching up when the bickering started up again. Youngbin seemed to be done with it though and let out a loud growl, successfully silencing everyone.</p><p>“Maybe you guys should stay silent after you ask question so the person you asked can actually have a chance to answer.”</p><p>“That’s an amazing idea hyung! This is why you’re the pack leader.” Dawon said while giving him a thumbs up, ignoring Taeyang’s sigh and Chanhee’s facepalm.</p><p>Dawon turned his expectant gaze to him and everyone went silent, finally giving Youngkyun a chance to actually answer.</p><p>“Normally I wouldn’t need the little boost from the ramp, but I panicked.”</p><p>“You can jump higher than that?!” It was surprisingly Taeyang who blurted that out, immediately blushing afterwards.</p><p>“I just said that.”</p><p>“Kyun used to be able to jump higher than all the other kittens because he had to keep up with me.” Chanhee decided to share, not even trying to hide his cocky tone.</p><p>“Whoa, hold the phone. You two knew each other when you were younger?” Dawon looked between them in bewilderment.</p><p>“I thought Youngkyun grew up in the city?” Jaeyoon questioned quietly.</p><p>“And I thought I already told I didn’t. And I’m pretty sure Youngbin let it slip once too.”</p><p>The two stared at him with wide eyes.</p><p>“Didn’t we try to ambush him in his classroom that one time when Youngbin told us this?” Rowoon spoke up from behind him. Dawon and Jaeyoon shared a look before looking down.</p><p>“We need to regroup for a moment and think about everything…” Jaeyoon trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.</p><p>He snorted in amusement. “Alright, while you do that. Can I go home? I wanna sleep for a week and try to forget that humans exist.”</p><p>He got a few laughs in response, missing the worried frown of Youngbin and Taeyang, who shared a look.</p><p>He patted Rowoon’s hands, signaling him that he wanted to be let go. And promptly regretted it when he got lightheaded the second he stood up and had to grip onto a tree to keep standing upright. A surprised Inseong caught him and the both of them almost tumbled down if it weren’t for Chanhee and Taeyang catching them.</p><p>“Do you need help getting home?”</p><p>He tried to ignore his warm ears and stood up again with the help of Chanhee. “<em>Maybe</em> I could use some help.”</p><p>He pointed an accusing finger at Taeyang when he made a move to pick him up. “But don’t you dare carry me like I’m some damsel in distress you hooligan.”</p><p>Taeyang gave him a wide-eyed look before he chuckled and turned around, crouching down in front of him. He stared at his back in confusion, his mind still a little muddled after his little episode.</p><p>“You didn’t want him to carry you like ‘some damsel in distress’ so get on his back you absolute toenail.”</p><p>He absolutely did not stick out his tongue and ignored Chanhee’s little comment like the dignified adult he was.</p><p>~</p><p>“What the fuck did the fuckers do now?!”</p><p>Younghyun’s screech seemed to echo through the house as he rushed to meet Youngkyun at the door, assisting him in taking his jacket off. He heard a loud <em>bang</em> come from the bathroom and a second later the door slammed open to reveal Sungjin with still dripping hair and an interesting clothing combination. Jae shot up from the couch and made his way over, the both of them ignoring Wonpil and Dowoon’s pleas to calm down and not crowd him.</p><p>“What do you mean ‘what did they do now’?!”</p><p>“Smell Sungjin! He reeks of them and a whole lotta panic, it’s making me nauseous.”</p><p>“We’re standing right next to you Chicken Little, you don’t have to screech!”</p><p>Wonpil approached him while the other three bickered, silently taking his hand and leading him to couch where Dowoon was ready with a blanket. He was about to ask why they were so attentive(not that they weren’t attentive normally, they were always just very loud about it) when Wonpil scratched at the little spot behind his right ear, rendering him boneless.</p><p>“That’s it Hwi, deep breaths okay?” Dowoon muttered in his ear, undisturbed by the petty bickering from the ‘adults’ behind him.</p><p>He frowned when he noticed that he was indeed breathing shallower than he thought, and tried to match his breathing with Dowoon’s. He panicked the slightest bit until Dowoon shushed him and placed his hand on his chest, breathing in deeply for him.</p><p>“Don’t worry Hwiyoung, you’re home now. Nothing can happen to you here.” Wonpil whispered to him softly, holding his other hand tightly. He frowned slightly when he noticed they were shaking.</p><p>“Hey knuckleheads! Stop your bickering and come here, Hwi’s crying.” Wonpil shouted. He flinched at the sudden shout from beside him. Wonpil silently apologized with a quick scratch behind his cat ear. He tilted his head and took his hand back from Wonpil who clutched at his shoulder instead, letting his fingers rub beneath his eyes and he froze when he felt something wet.</p><p>“<em>What?!</em>”</p><p>Honestly, if this was any other situation their responses would have been comedic gold. Younghyun turned around with lightning fast speed when he heard the word ‘crying’ and almost slipped on the wood beneath his socks, and threw the jacket behind him, probably aiming for the coat rack.</p><p>He missed.</p><p>The jacket hit Jae right in the face, who screeched in shock and fell down, bringing down a gob smacked Sungjin with him. Sungjin immediately pushed him away when they hit the ground, ‘accidently’ kicking Jae, who was still fighting with coat. While Sungjin finally reached him Jae threw the jacket away and scrambled to get to him on all fours.</p><p>“Hey, hey. What happened? What did the idiots do now?” Younghyun cooed at him while wiping his tears away, sitting in front of him on the coffee table.</p><p>“Do you need Sungjin to beat someone up?” Jae offered, a hand on his knee. The aforementioned peaceful bear shot him a glare but didn’t object, choosing the kneel down in front of the couch where he was sitting.</p><p>He gazed worriedly at Youngkyun, grasping onto the hand that had dropped from his face. “What happened Hwiyoung?”</p><p>He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but all that managed to get out was strangled sob. Sungjin immediately softened and opened his arms, letting Youngkyun fall into them.</p><p>“They have gone too far now! Those good for nothing savages, -“ A small growl cut Younghyun off.</p><p>“Not now.”</p><p>“Fuck that! Look at him Sungjin, he’s a wreck! And coincidentally he also smells like them! I was all for letting them prove themselves, but this goes too far! He was doing much better before he met them, and maybe it’s better if he doesn’t see them anymore.”</p><p>“Hyung!”</p><p>“Come on, you can’t mean that?!”</p><p>Wonpil and Dowoon were ignored as Younghyun responded.</p><p>“I told you since their little stunt in the library, they’ll be no good for him. Please forbid him from seeing them Sunjin, you have more than enough reason now!”</p><p>He didn’t know why he panicked at the thought of being forbidden from seeing them again, a week ago he would’ve jumped at the opportunity. But as Youngbin’s smile flashed through his mind along with Chanhee’s loud laugh and bickering, and Taeyang’s small blush from earlier when he blurted out he had pretty eyes, and their annoying bickering which amused him to no end. He wanted to see them again, he wanted to see Jaeyoon, Dawon and Inseong being forgetful dumbasses together, he wanted to bicker more with Chanhee, he wanted to talk to Youngbin and drown in his comforting presence, he wanted to see Juho’s shy smile as they argued whether Pringles or Lays was superior, he wanted to see the small embarrassed blush on Taeyang’s face again. But most of all, he wanted to be with them again.</p><p>“It wasn’t them.”</p><p>The one-sided argument fell silent as they heard his muffled words, his face smushed in Sungjin’s shoulder.</p><p>“Sorry kitten, can you repeat that?” Younghyun’s voice was suddenly closer, a hand carding through his hair.</p><p>He backed away the slightest but so his face wasn’t smushed up against his shoulder, but didn’t move away from the embrace, unwilling to let go.</p><p>“It wasn’t them.” His words were a lot clearer now, and he felt Younghyun’s hand pausing before brushing through his hair again.</p><p>Sungjin pulled away and sat on the table, with Youngkyun now on the ground there was really no place for him there anymore.</p><p>“What do you mean, it wasn’t them? You reek of their scents.” Sungjin asked in a gentle voice. He hated that voice, it sounded like he was afraid to use his normal voice, afraid he would fall apart if he did.</p><p>“I was with them on the phone when I overheard something, and I was too obvious with my eavesdropping so the guy noticed me and I told them to meet me at the park in a panic.” He tried to leave the most vital parts out, unwilling to say it out loud.</p><p>“But that still doesn’t explain why you smell like panic, like you just saw your worst nightmare come to live.” Sungjin said, looking him straight in the eyes.</p><p>He opened his mouth to give a smart ass retort but came up short, leaving him gaping. He cursed at himself and wished he was Sunwoo, he never missed a chance to retort and always had an excuse ready, making them up on the spot. He was never good at making things up on the spot, he always imagined several scenarios a situation would and most of the time it ended up being one of his scenarios. But he never imagined <em>this</em> could happen.</p><p>“And how did someone even catch you? You eavesdrop on us too and we never catch you.” Jae noted, a little incredibly in his voice.</p><p>Sungjin sighed. “Unless the information in the conversation made you panic so much you made mistakes.” He concluded.</p><p>He sucked in a breath and averted his eyes, looking at his fumbling fingers.</p><p>“Hwiyoung, you know you can tell us anything. We won’t get mad if you made a mistake or something.” Younghyun reassured him in a soft voice.</p><p>He let out a wet laugh. “I think this will make you mad.”</p><p>“Try us.”</p><p>“Jaehyun’s back, and a few of his lackies chased me and tried to take me back there. He finally found me. My worst fucking nightmare finally found me and I don’t know what to do.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>YES I KNOW IM VERY LATE BUT SCHOOL SUCKS OKAY! And me teachers thought it was a genuis idea to put all of my assigments deadlines in the same week so i've been swamped with work.</p><p>Hope you guys did enjoy the chapter though, it was a real piece of work to write... :,)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Well, that could've gone better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Didn’t you two fight over the right way to say, ‘I love you’ when you first said it to each other?”</p><p>“We did.”</p><p>“And didn’t you say, ‘nice to know’ when he first said it?”</p><p>“I said ‘nice to know’…”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you guys enjoy it!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Youngkyun laid in his bed, staring at his ceiling in boredom. He knew he needed to get up soon, he had school to go to. His brothers were still unsure about letting him go after what happened yesterday, but he just wanted to do something normal before everything went to complete shit. Considering Jae called their parents yesterday after he was kinda calmed down (read: he passed out from exhaustion), things were going to even more shit soon. If you thought <em>Brian </em>could be overbearing, you have never met Park Kyungnam. She was a very sweet women, but she’s a hybrid between a cat and a cheetah, and very protective of her cubs. He may or may not needed to let Sunwoo know she was coming too, he lived with them for a while and she always loved him and forced him to visit when he moved away.</p><p>Oh <em>god</em> Sunwoo, he would never hear the end of it. ‘Why in the holy hell would you even go outside after you get a note like that?!’ ‘You’re supposed to be smart one dumbass.’. He groaned and pushed a pillow on his face, if he smothered himself with the pillow maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with this shitshow he called life.</p><p>He let out an even louder groan when the pillow was pulled from his face, he looked through his squinted eyes to see Sungjin grinning down at him. “Come on Kyun, you wanted to go to school so up you get.” He glared at his sunny smile.</p><p>“I changed my mind, I’m still too tired after the bullshit from yesterday. You should never trust a crying person to make good decisions.”</p><p>“You made your bed, now lie in it.” He turned around and almost tripped over some random clothes on the floor. “And clean up for once in your life, will you? I swear you’re getting worse than Sunwoo.”</p><p>“Mom’s coming over tomorrow anyway, she’ll take one look and won’t be able to stop herself.”</p><p>“That’s a very mean thought.”</p><p>“I know you didn’t do the dishes last night though.”</p><p>“Touché, now get up or no breakfast for you.”</p><p>“And you call <em>me </em>mean.”</p><p>~</p><p>He walked through the school’s front door, shaking a coca cola can idly in his hand. He rolled his eyes when he heard two pair of footsteps rapidly coming his way.</p><p>“Hello my problem friends.”</p><p>“Hey Kyun.”</p><p>Sunwoo clung to his right arm instead of greeting him, rubbing his cheek on his shoulder. Not even hiding his smug smile when he heard Chanhee growl.</p><p>“How did yesterday go anyway? You said I’d get to antagonize someone.” Sunwoo questioned excitedly.</p><p>Chanhee clacked his tongue loudly and he felt his ears burn. “It went alright, you don’t need to antagonize for today.”</p><p>He saw Chanhee’s eyebrow raise in the corner of his eye and gave him a look to keep him quiet, all the while ignoring Sunwoo’s grumbling. He let out a sigh inwardly when Chanhee’s opened his mouth.</p><p>“So, this is how you two operate? Kyun gets the scoop and finds shit out and then Sunwoo goes and does whatever the fuck he does when they do something bad?”</p><p>“You don’t have to sound so amused you know; I have taken down far dangerous species than you.”</p><p>“Somehow I doubt that kitty.”</p><p>He pinched Sunwoo’s side when he bristled and gave Chanhee a warning glare, which probably lost its edge because he had to bite back his smile.</p><p>“And you seem to forget, dear Chanhee, that we are a trio. Yeosang finds it out, I find out if it’s true and then Sunwoo gets to do what he does.”</p><p>“But isn’t Youngkyun stronger than you though?” Chanhee seemed confused as his fitted between them.</p><p>“He <em>would </em>be if he came with me to the gym.”</p><p>Youngkyun shrugged him off and groaned loudly, ignoring the odd looks they got. “Will you shut up about that, I <em>told </em>you still need to find time in schedule.”</p><p>“How hard is it to find time!? Your classes end mostly at one or two in the afternoon, maybe four or five if you gotta help in library. After that you just laze around all day.”</p><p>“<em>Excuse you, </em>my lazing around time is also my ‘me’-time and I’m not too keen on cutting that down. <em>Thank you very much</em>.”</p><p>Sunwoo pursed his lips and simply stared at him.</p><p>“Don’t try to copy Jae’s judgy look, it’s patented.”</p><p>Sunwoo suddenly jumped when a ringtone sounded, Youngkyun and Chanhee startled too but quickly played it off cool by leaning on each other. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes as he took out his own phone, silencing it. “I have class.” He murmured before quickly walking away.</p><p>“He’s really something isn’t he?”</p><p>“Unfortunately for you, we both are.” Youngkyun quipped, shoving his arm of his shoulder with a smirk. “And now I gotta go to class.” He patted his chest before turning around to walk away, he let out a small ‘oh’ as he turned back around to an amused Chanhee.</p><p>“Here, I’m not that thirsty.” He held out the cola can.</p><p>Chanhee eyed the can of cola with distrust. “I don’t know if I should accept anything from you to be honest.”</p><p>Youngkyun let out a big sigh and let his disappointment leak into his scent. Now he was happy Chanhee (with the combined help of a concerned Brian) convinced him to take a lighter dose of suppressors. “You don’t have too- you know what, leave it. Hyunjin or Jisung will probably appreciate it. See you later.” He dropped his shoulders and started to walk away when-</p><p>“Kyun! Wait.”</p><p><em>They made it so easy</em>.</p><p>He hid his smirk as he turned around, looking at him with a blank face. “What? I’m going to be late for class.”  </p><p>“Give me the damn can.” He held out his hand with an annoyed glare on his face.</p><p>“No, if you don’t want it then you don’t. Don’t fo- “</p><p>“For the love of god Kyun, shut up and give me the damn can.” He marched forward and snatched it out of his hands.</p><p>Youngkyun held his hands up in the air as he backed away. “I really gotta go now though, so I guess I’ll see you and the guys around?”</p><p>Something brightened in his expression and Youngkyun tilted his head the tiniest bit in confusion. He had told him ‘see you later’ a dozen of times already, he preferred that over saying goodbye, and he never looked so happy about it.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see you later.” Youngkyun nodded and waved at him, disappearing behind the corner.</p><p>He leaned against the wall and waited for a beat, grinning when he heard a loud ‘splatch’ and cursing immediately following. He turned tail and immediately ran for his class, letting a loud laugh when he heard Chanhee screaming after him.</p><p>~</p><p>“So, what did they do now?” Yeosang drawled as the teacher gave them the okay to start working independently.</p><p>“What do you mean?” He questioned distractedly, writing down the last answer to the homework for the next lesson. (yes, he was the kid who worked ahead so he didn’t need to spend his ‘me’ time worrying about something as annoying as homework)</p><p>“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?!” Jisung cried out, yelling out an apology when the teacher gave him a look. “You ran in here like hell was on your heels right when the bell rang. And you’re never late, you always like to come early to choose a good seat and get your shit nice and ready.” He ignored Hyunjin whacking him in the head when he swore, used to it at this point.</p><p>“<em>They </em>didn’t do anything last time.”</p><p>Hyunjin and Jisung looked at each other in confusion as they tried to decipher the hidden double meaning of the sentence. Yeosang just raised an unimpressed eyebrow.</p><p>“Let me rephrase the question then, what did <em>you </em>do?”</p><p>“I just got back at Chanhee at for pushing me that one time.” He knew his tone was too innocent for Yeosang to let this slip by, but it was really funny to witness.</p><p>“That doesn’t answer my question.”</p><p>“I shook a cola can before walking in here and handed it to him before running the hell away.” He didn’t even hide his shit-eating grin and he saw Yeosang biting back a smile too.</p><p>“Oh my god, please tell me you managed to record it.”</p><p>“Nope, I had to be ready for a quick get-away.” Hyunjin’s ears dropped but his giggles didn’t lessen, no doubt imagining the scenario in his head.</p><p>“I can’t believe he fell for that, it’s like the oldest trick in the book.”</p><p>“Jisung, you fell for it too. Multiple times actually.”</p><p>Jisung spluttered at an unfazed Yeosang.</p><p>Hyunjin ignored their bickering and turned to Youngkyun with a devilish smile. He raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips when his stomach churned, he was going to say something stupid.</p><p>“So, you and your mates are finally at the teasing stage, huh?” his eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to dispute that ridiculous thought.</p><p>“About time, they’re already giving courting gifts.” Jisung commented.</p><p>“Yeah, I thought it was weird they kinda skipped that stage. Normally you start with teasing and then gifts, but Kyun’s always been a little against the current.”</p><p>He gaped at his friends, his ears burning hotter and hotter. Back <em>the fuck</em> up, since when did they start exchanging <em>courting gifts</em>?! And since when did they start their teasing phase? Their meeting phase hasn’t even finished yet! It was meeting, teasing, gifts, scenting and then joining the pack and <em>maybe </em>moving in together at that point. And they did not s<em>kip </em>stages, they’re still in the first. Are they…?</p><p>“<em>Oh my god</em>, you haven’t noticed…” Hyunjin trailed off with wide eyes while Jisung just spluttered some more.</p><p>“<em>This</em>, this is exactly the reason why you’re a dumbass.” Yeosang pointed out, quickly snapping out of his astonishment.</p><p>“When did we even start giving these courting gifts? <em>How </em>did you guys even notice before I did? And how the fuck didn’t <em>I </em>notice this?” Yeosang and Hyunjin opened their mouths to answer the rapid flood of questions but snapped it shut when Youngkyun continued. “Wait, I didn’t notice this because you guys are spouting bullshit. We’re still in the meeting stage and haven’t skipped anything and you guys are just imagining this, that’s it.” He decided before turning back to his books even though his work was already done. He pointedly ignored the silence around him.</p><p>“<em>Dude</em>.”</p><p>“Come on, you can’t be this thickheaded?!”</p><p>“Please stop acting like Sunwoo, I have enough trouble dealing with one.”</p><p>He huffed but didn’t look up, happy in his little bubble where he was still on stage one and didn’t skip anything and didn’t have to worry about anything.</p><p>“Come on! You can’t tell me you didn’t notice they gave you gifts and that you even gave one in return!” Jisung burst out again, the teacher sighed loudly but otherwise ignored. She had probably given up on him.</p><p>“<em>What</em> gifts are we even talking about here?!” Youngkyun burst, whirling around to face them.</p><p>“The hoodie.”</p><p>“The necklace.”</p><p>“The Skittles.”</p><p>“But those weren’t <em>courting </em>gifts. They were, they were…”</p><p>“They were what Youngkyun?” Even Jisung looked about done with him.</p><p>“They were… just… being nice?” He cringed at his own sad excuse of an excuse.</p><p>Yeosang pointedly looked at him while he facepalmed, Hyunjin let out a deep sigh and Jisung just dropped his head on the table and groaned.</p><p>“<em>Okay</em>, what did I give them then? You guys said I also gave something, what is it?” He asked with a manic hint in his voice. He was very sure he didn’t give any of them anything.</p><p>“The necklace you gave to Kim Youngbin.”</p><p>
  <em>Oh</em>
</p><p>He stayed silent while the other three gazed at him and stared at his textbook in front of him. The other three jumped (Hyunjin did scream no matter what he tells you) when Youngkyun let his head fall onto his desk, letting a loud groan. He barely registered the pain as his head thudded on the desk and instead tried to think back to the moment where he started to see them as anything else than utter idiots. Even worse, started seeing them as potential <em>mates</em>. How did they even manage to skip stages with him? <em>He </em>was supposed to be the sneaky one, thank you very much.</p><p>“Finally starting to realize?” Hyunjin sympathized, patting the back of his head.</p><p>“How does one even so obliviously <em>skip </em>stages.” Youngkyun wailed mutedly, not lifting his head.</p><p>“It’s actually quite common Kyun.” Yeosang comforted him.</p><p>“Did it happen to you?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Then why are you saying it’s common?!”</p><p>“Just because it’s common doesn’t mean it happens to everyone. I can’t help it if your mates are smarter than mine!”</p><p>“I literally only need to say, ‘the idiots’ and everyone knows who I’m talking about, since when are they <em>smart</em>?”</p><p>“They’re only idiots compared to you Youngkyun!” He lifted his head with a disbelieving frown. “You’re have a fricking 4.0 GPA and half of the time you don’t even try and you do this while taking part in the rumor-mill at this school, which isn’t easy to keep up with, I mean just yesterday there 10 new rumors and 7 weren’t even real. Honestly, any mate you could have had would have been an idiot in your eyes because you don’t understand the fact that you’re a literal genius. And it’s really baffling to me that I have to <em>remind </em>of this fact because even though you’re a dumbass, you’re not stupid nor an idiot.” Yeosang took a deep breath after his little rant.</p><p>The three others looked at him with big eyes, Jisung slow clapping it out.</p><p>“That was impressive dude.”</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>“You have been thinking about this longer than just now, haven’t you?” Youngkyun concluded, having the decency to at least look a little ashamed.</p><p>“No shit, Sherlock.”</p><p>“Shut up, Watson.”</p><p>“Wait there’s a comeback to that?” Jisung turned to an equally baffled Hyunjin.</p><p>“Apparently.”</p><p>The two cats ignored their friends.</p><p>Youngkyun let out a big sigh. “I have been giving them an unreasonably hard time, huh?”</p><p>“Jup.”</p><p>“And I could have avoided this if I communicated more.”</p><p>“Oh, who made you think of that?”</p><p>“Chanhee.”</p><p>“Figures.”</p><p>They didn’t even notice Jisung and Hyunjin sauntering off to join another group to chat with, bored with their conversation and feeling like Yeosang had it handled.</p><p>“How do they even still want me; I practically ruined any reputation they could have had at this school and rejected and probably hurt their feeling numerous times. I’m horrible.” He said, wallowing in regrets.</p><p>Yeosang sighed and flicked his dumb friend on the forehead, ignoring his cry if indignation. “To be fair, Sunwoo probably has some fault in this hasn’t he?”</p><p>“The things he said <em>were </em>kinda true though.”</p><p>“But did they come out of a place of genuine worry or out of his own ideals?”</p><p>“Both? I’m pretty sure it’s both.”</p><p>“What did he say?”</p><p>“That they weren’t my endgame and I don’t own them anything- “</p><p>“Well maybe an apology or two but true.”</p><p>  “-I’m pretty sure he tried to fight Seokwoo and he practically challenges them whenever he sees them, and he likes to badmouth them a lot.”</p><p>Yeosang looked disappointed but not surprised at the information.</p><p>“Oh yeah, and as cherry on top. He made himself an <em>option</em>.”</p><p>“<em>No</em>.”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>, I cracked up when he told me.”</p><p>“But didn’t you guys break up because you fought too much on stupid things and barely could stand to be in the same room after you got out of your honeymoon stage?”</p><p>“We are far better off as friends then as boyfriends, that’s for sure.”</p><p>“I told you guys, but who never listens to me?”</p><p>He gazed pointedly at Youngkyun who chose that moment to gaze out of the window next to them, whistling innocently.</p><p>“Didn’t you two fight over the right way to say, ‘I love you’ when you first said it to each other?”</p><p>“We did.”</p><p>“And didn’t you say, ‘nice to know’ when he first said it?”</p><p>“I said ‘nice to know’…”</p><p>He propped his head on his palm as he frowned thoughtfully. “My mates really don’t know what they’re getting into, do they?”</p><p>“You have to admire their persistence though. Imagine <em>Sunwoo</em> meeting his mates.”</p><p>“Those poor things.” Youngkyun muttered while smirking at Yeosang, bursting out laughing at the same time.</p><p>~</p><p>“<em>Park fucking Youngkyun! When I find you, I am going to <strong>kill</strong> you.</em>”</p><p>Youngkyun didn’t bother to look back as he sped up, forcing the idiots to speed up too. (Yes, they were walking him home. He was stupid to think they would let him do it alone after yesterday, he admits it)</p><p>“What was that ab- “</p><p>“Don’t know, don’t care. Now keep moving otherwise he will catch up!” Youngkyun muttered while quickly looking from side to side before crossing the street. So what? Everyone jaywalks, at least he does it safely.</p><p>“Are you sure? It sounde- “</p><p>“Important? If it is, he’ll call.”</p><p>“<em>There you are you asshole!</em>”</p><p>He was barely able to keep the wince out of his face as he sped up again, practically running. It was not that he was <em>afraid </em>of Sunwoo (he was), but he got so loud and he could be very embarrassing if he wanted to be. His confidence was very high as long as there was someone he could embarrass.</p><p>They were so close to the café when he heard Chanhee mutter ‘incoming’. He was about to ask what the hell was he on about when someone plowed him right over.</p><p>“Sunwoo, <em>what the fuck</em>?!” He yelled while trying to kick him off.</p><p>Sunwoo simply sat on his legs and used his feet to block his hands, leaving his own hands free to emphasize his words. He took out his phone and opened it to their most recent thread.</p><p>“<em>This </em>the fuck! Why would you just text me this, you know I next to never check my phone for texts! If Chaewon didn’t steal my phone for selfies I would’ve probably never seen them!”</p><p>“Don’t be so dramatic, you play games on your phone. You would- “</p><p>“Not the fucking point, Kyun!” He sighed out, moving his feet and letting his full weight plop down on him. He ignored his ‘oof’ and glared silently at him.</p><p>“Are you gonna move anytime soon orr?”</p><p>“Nah, you deserve this. Besides, you make a pretty good seat.”</p><p>He hissed at him without heat and put one of his hands behind his head. He could feel the baffled look of the idiots but ignored them, if they wanted to be with him, they had to get used to this.</p><p>“Park Youngkyun. Kim Sunwoo. What are you two doing?!”</p><p>Youngkyun eyes snapped wide open and he whirled his head around to look at an equally wide-eyed Sunwoo. They slowly turned around to see an unimpressed Park Kyungnam looking down at them.</p><p>“Hi mom.”</p><p>“Hi auntie.”</p><p>They both gave her their most innocent smiles as they got up as fast as they could, Sunwoo even going as far to wipe of the dust on the back of his shirt. They fell into an uncomfortable silence as she looked at them, seeing which one would speak first.</p><p>“<em>Soo</em> auntie how are things at home? Are the neighbor kittens still causing chaos?”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>, considering you two taught them everything you knew before you left.”</p><p>“Well someone has to keep you on your toes, mom.” Youngkyun smoothly took over, seeing the wince on Sunwoo’s face.</p><p>She didn’t reply and simply gave them a searching look, causing the two to look at each other with raised brows. They startled when she suddenly squealed, clapping her hands.</p><p>“You two are back together aren’t you!? I knew it! I knew you two wouldn’t be able to stay away from each other!” She cried out as he hugged them. The two shared a helpless look over her shoulder.</p><p> “Excuse me miss? But what do you mean ‘back together’?”</p><p>He should’ve just stayed in bed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>YES I KNOW I'M LATE BUT I HAD A REALLY HARD TIME WRITING THE ENDING AND I HAD A MINOR WRITERS BLOCK.</p><p>And yes i live for Yeosang just laying out the facts to help his very dumb friends.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. A Mothers Worries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Soo, can we now ask what ever the hell is going on here?” </p><p>Taeyang raised his hand to whack him in the head.</p><p>“Tyang, stop. He has a point.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>PSA, PLEASE READ.</p><p>I WILL BE CHANGING MY NAME TO HWIHWII, so if you'll see a different name stand by this update, don't worry it's still me.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His opinion still stood unchanged. His bed would be a whole lot more comfortable than the wooden chairs they were sitting in now, (The chairs were actually quite comfortable, he was just being picky) with two of the bigger tables pushed together while his mother happily conversed with Younghyun-‘Why didn’t you tell me Kyunnie had so many friends?!’. She promptly ignored Sungjin’s muted growl from the kitchen and Jae, Wonpil, Dowoon and Brian’s baffled looks.</p><p>“<em>Soo</em>, how long have you boys been back together now?” A still excited Kyungnam questioned, sitting down in between Youngkyun and Chanhee.</p><p>He was about to open his mouth to set the record straight when he was kicked in the shin. He glared darkly at Sunwoo as he held back his shout of pain. Sunwoo simply gave him a quick smirk in retort.</p><p>“Ah you know how it goes auntie. You kinda just gravitate back towards each other.” He lied smoothly.</p><p>While his mother squealed again while he turned back around to face Sunwoo, giving him in an incredulous look. He just gave him an innocent look in return. The shithead <em>knew </em>his mother liked it when they were together and would be overjoyed if they decided to try again, and he did like making his mom happy. But there was one small problem there, they <em>weren’t </em>trying again nor ever. He turned in his chair as discreetly as he could and gave Jae a desperate look. (He failed according to the raised brows Youngbin and Rowoon shot him, but his mom was luckily still distracted by Chanhee, who was smiling sourly as his mom recounted his and Sunwoo’s ‘cutest love story ever’)</p><p>Jae shot up from his place behind the register at the look and fumbled with the notebook Brian threw at him and then scrambled to their table.</p><p>“Hi mom!” He cringed a little when he took notice of the tense atmosphere which his mother was either ignoring or not noticing. “Can I get any of you something?”</p><p>“I will have an iced coffee and some donuts for the table. - “She finally turned her gaze to Youngkyun. “-Do you still like that hot white chocolate milk of yours?”</p><p>“I already wrote that down before I came over here, don’t worry about it mom.” He turned his expectant gaze to Youngbin. “Can I get you guys something?”</p><p>“8 Ice teas ple- “</p><p>He took in a deep breath when Chanhee cleared his throat.</p><p>“7 regular ice teas and one peach, please.”</p><p>Jae’s eyes twinkled in amusement before he wrote it down. “Alright, got it. mind helping Kyun? The boys are terribly busy.” He unnecessarily raised his voice for the last sentence.</p><p>“What are you talking about, I just saw Wonpillie and Woonie talking to- “She cut herself off when a loud crash was heard. All of them turned around to see Brian staring at Wonpil and Dowoon with an incredulous look on his face and his hand hovering mid-air, as if he tried to stop whatever happened.</p><p>Wonpil and Dowoon stared down at broken pieces of what used to be a bowl and cup. What smelled like chicken soup and-was that chai tea? - emitted from the shards.</p><p>Jae snapped out of his shock first. “See? They’re busy.”</p><p>His mother just nodded with a raised eyebrow while Jae quickly hauled him out of seat to the kitchen, giving the order to Brian who was busy scolding the poor fox and dog.</p><p>“What the fuck was that?”</p><p>“The poor bowl and cup or the- “</p><p>“Yes, the whole tense ass atmosphere that you guys had going there!” He gestured frantically, almost knocking over a stray glass. “And why was mom so excited?! I thought she would have taken you upstairs and locked you in your room with bubble plastic wrapped around every surface- including you!”</p><p>He paused for a second when he pictured it and then shuddered, his ears folding back under his beanie. He snapped out of it when Jae gave him an impatient look.</p><p>“She thinks me and Sunwoo are back together because we were playing around outside.”</p><p>“Why didn’t you just say you weren’t?”</p><p>He simply crossed his arms and raised his brow, head tilting a little.</p><p>“He’s doing it to antagonize your mates isn’t he?”</p><p>Youngkyun let out a loud, miserable groan as he slumped against the counter, ignoring Sungjin’s look.</p><p>“Okay, okay. Don’t panic yet- “</p><p>“I’m already panicking!”</p><p>“-oh, uhm, well stop that and listen to me- “</p><p>“My mates think I’m dating my best friend! How do you want me calm down!”</p><p>“Well, maybe stop shouting for one, the kitchen is only soundproof to a certain degree- “</p><p>“Why does Sunwoo have to be so annoying, I thought he was gonna respect my decision!” He moaned, moving to let himself slide dramatically down to the ground.</p><p>
  <em>Slap!</em>
</p><p>His head was forcefully pushed to the side as Jae slapped him in the face, looking Sungjin right in his big eyes.</p><p>He snapped his head back to Jae when he gripped his shoulders and shook him.</p><p>“Did you just <em>bitch</em>-slap me?!”</p><p>“Oh, quiet down. It wasn’t even that hard! -“</p><p>“Say that to my cheek!”</p><p>“-stop interrupting me you little shit or no hot chocolate for a month!”</p><p>“You wouldn’t!”</p><p>“Watch me.”</p><p>They stared at each other for a moment.</p><p>
  <em>I will not look away first. I will not look away first. I will not look- goddamn it.</em>
</p><p>“Thought so.” Jae smirked for a moment before sobering up. “We can still salvage this situation okay?”</p><p>“How?”</p><p>“Remember the reason mom came over?”</p><p>His eyes widened as a small smile slipped on his lips. “Worry outweighs happiness. Jae you’re brilliant!” It looked for a second that Sungjin was going to say something, but he seemed to think against it at the last moment, just shaking his head and turning back to his cooking.</p><p>“I know, thanks.”</p><p>“But there’s one small problem.”</p><p>“What now?!”</p><p>“Sunwoo doesn’t know yet and he will make a big scene and insist to stay, and since mom thinks we’re together…”</p><p>Jae ran his hands through his hair as he started pacing, sighing deeply.</p><p>He snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up. “Just let me handle it little brother, don’t worry about it.”</p><p>“Hearing you say that just <em>makes</em> me worry.” Youngkyun grumbled as he followed Jae back into the front room, picking up one of the trays. (normally this could easily be carried by one person, so they put it on three to seem less suspicious, like being away for like fifteen minutes just to get a few drinks and donuts isn’t weird enough)</p><p>“There you boys are! What took you so long?” Kyungnam questioned, looking up from her conversation with Sunwoo and surprisingly, Youngbin.</p><p>They shared a look before waving off any concerns with their perfected costumer smiles, setting down the drinks.</p><p>“If you all would excuse my mother and brother for a second, we’ll be right back.” Their mother frowned at them but didn’t protest. Jae’s smile strained when Sunwoo opened his mouth.</p><p>“And why am I not a part of this little family meeting?”</p><p>“Because you’re not.”</p><p>“Amazing come back- “</p><p>“Just let him come Jae, he’s as much part of our family as Youngkyun is.”</p><p>“This is more of a personal matter though.” Youngkyun tried to plead through his eyes for him to just shut up.</p><p>“But I’m your best friend Kyun! Why can’t I know?”</p><p>
  <em>Damn it.</em>
</p><p>“I’ll tell you <em>later</em>.”</p><p>“What if I want to know <em>now</em>.”</p><p>“Then that’s not my problem!”</p><p>“Oh really?”</p><p>“Ye- “</p><p>“Youngkyun got attacked at the park yesterday and got away and his mates, who are sitting with you right now, helped him calm down after and brought him home. Sunwoo and Youngkyun aren’t back together, Sunwoo just tried to annoy Youngkyun’s mates. <em>Please shut your annoying mouths now!</em>” Wonpil took a gasping breath after his little rant.</p><p>“<em>That’s </em>my kit!” Younghyun cooed loudly from his seat behind the register, Dowoon guffawing with laughter soon after.</p><p>Jae just sighed before starting to walk back to his place behind the counter.</p><p>“Everyone, upstairs. <em>Now!</em>” Jae immediately froze and let Youngkyun cower behind him, Younghyun grabbed the two youngest of his pack and pulled them behind the counter, Sunwoo made a mad grab for the menu and held in front of his face in a feeble attempt at an shield, and SF9 just sat there with wide-eyes.</p><p>“This is why you’re not allowed to deal with things.” Youngkyun hissed in his ear while trying to reach for Sunwoo.</p><p>“Uhm, even us?” Inseong questioned quietly.</p><p>If glares could kill Inseong would be ten feet under. Zuho had to physically hold Taeyang down.</p><p>“If you are truly his mates then that wouldn’t have even been a question.” She said in a carefully controlled voice.</p><p>She got up and whirled around, causing Youngkyun and Jae to scramble out of her way and Sunwoo to huddle further behind his menu.</p><p>“<em>Sungjin! Don’t you think I forgot about you!”</em></p><p>There was a loud clattering from the kitchen and distinctive cursing.</p><p>~</p><p>Wonpil fluttered around the living room where Kyungnam forced everyone to gather as she and Sungjin locked themselves in Jae’s room. He set down random snacks he found in the kitchen with some mismatched popcorn bowls. (since when did they have so many?) He was about to snap at him to sit the hell down when Brian gripped his hands, seizing his bordering painful fiddling. He didn’t look at him when he told Wonpil to sit down, simply squeezing his hand.</p><p>“What could they even be talking about for so long?” Sunwoo grumbled as he cuddled into his legs from his seat on the floor, his tail wrapped around his ankle.</p><p>“You shut your mouth you little shit, you’re part of the reason why she’s mad.” Jae snarked as kicked his side, sitting next to Youngkyun.</p><p>He hissed back without any real heat, kicking him in the shin.</p><p>The only reason Sunwoo was in a hissy fit was because his mother forbade anyone from telling him what happened before she knew. Sunwoo thought she was being stupid, Youngkyun knew she was doing it for his own good. Even though he liked to pretend nothing ever hurt him, he was actually very sensitive once you knew what to look for.</p><p>He started at the sudden touch on his neck, his hackles rising. He relaxed the slightest when he the faint smell of peaches hit his nose. He squeezed Brian’s hand when he felt his questioning look and leaned back into the couch where Youngbin sat behind him with Rowoon next to him. Chanhee was sitting directly opposite of him on the other couch and kept trying to catch his gaze, which hadn’t left his lap since they settled upstairs. They left the café downstairs in the very capable hands of their part-timers.</p><p>Taeyang was sitting on the ground in front of Chanhee, cautiously looking at one of the bowls which was standing very close to the edge of the coffee table. Zuho settled himself in the armchair and Dawon was sitting on one of the arms, Jaeyoon and Inseong sitting next to Chanhee.</p><p>He let out a soft sigh when he felt Youngbin’s hand start to message the back of his neck, obviously trying to get him to relax. He internally frowned a little when he realized how sour his scent must be for Youngbin to do this.</p><p>Everyone straightened up when the bedroom opened, Sungjin and Kyungnam walking out with neutral faces. Sungjin took place on the arm of the couch next to Jae, accepting his hand when Jae offered it. His mom chooses to keep standing, straightening out the non-existent wrinkles on her skirt. She took a deep breath before looking at Youngkyun with sympathy in her eyes.</p><p>“Me and Sungjin-ah think it might be best if Youngkyun moved back home and continue his studies online.”</p><p>He clenched his jaw as his grip tightened on his brothers’ hand, tuning out how Jae and Sunwoo immediately loudly disagreed. He expected this, but that didn’t mean he liked it. He <em>liked </em>the life that he was building here; Sunwoo and Yeosang will always be his best friends, but he loved the new friends he made here too, like the Stray Kids and Ateez pack, and the little clique he had with the rumor mill, and he would probably deny this if you asked, but he was starting to like the SF9 pack too. They were idiots, but they were <em>his </em>idiots and he didn’t want to leave them.</p><p>“Come on auntie! If you take him away, you would just making it easier for <em>them</em>! did it escape you that this is one of the safest cities we have?”</p><p>“You can’t make him uproot the life he’s building here! He finally has more than two friends and actually likes going to school now!”</p><p>“Boys- “</p><p>“No! don’t ‘boys’ us! He likes it here and he’s… <em>safe </em>here.” Sunwoo gritted out while sparing a look at Chanhee, who looked like he won the lottery.</p><p>“That’s very nice bu- “</p><p>“No buts! He likes it here and he’s not leaving just because you’re over-protective!”</p><p>His mother let out a loud growl at that, effectively silencing the both of them.</p><p>“I am taking him home and I don’t care what you have to say!” She shouted.</p><p>“And what if I want to stay?”</p><p>Her head snapped over to him and he almost flinched back if it was not for the hand on the back of his neck, squeezing reassuringly occasionally. Brian had taken his hand back when he caught Sunwoo, the little ball of rage wanted to square off against his mother.</p><p>“But, baby, it would be so much safer for you just to stay at home, where we can hire people and make sure this doesn’t happen ever again!”</p><p>“So, you’ll force me to stay inside again to ease your own worries?”</p><p>He knew it was a low blow, but it was also the truth. She had said the exact same thing when his beanie once fell off when they went shopping and she wouldn’t let him leave the house for the next two months. It was safe to say, for the still out of control and mostly savage Youngkyun, that he didn’t like the fact that he could take his daily walks through the forest.</p><p>Her mouth shut with an audible click, her tail moving slowly behind her.</p><p>“Park Youngkyun- “</p><p>“Stop, just stop it. it’s okay that you’re protective of me, but don’t let <em>your</em> protectiveness lead <em>my </em>life. We live in the safest city there is for people like us, and I got a lot of people in my corner.” He shivered the tiniest bit when Youngbin’s grip tightened. “And I like my life here, I don’t want to go back home.”</p><p>She stared at him with misty eyes, the smallest smile grazing her face. “You’re right baby. I’m sorry for doubting you, and for not noticing how much you’ve grown since the last time I saw you.” She walked forward to pet his head, him instinctively leaning into the touch.</p><p>She took another deep breath as she composed herself, turning to face Jae. “You can tell Sunwoo what happened, I’ll go downstairs and call your father.”  </p><p>He relaxed backwards into the couch as his mother walked away, letting out a deep sigh. He never liked it when his mom got like this.</p><p>“<em>Soo</em>, can we <em>now </em>ask what ever the hell is going on here?”</p><p>Taeyang raised his hand to whack him in the head.</p><p>“Tyang, stop. He has a point.”</p><p>He lowered his hand with a betrayed look on his face, glowering at Youngbin.</p><p>He bit his lip to keep a groan in. He had <em>just </em>averted one crisis! Couldn’t this one wait for like… another year? Maybe never even happen at all?</p><p>He inwardly sighed when he felt Sunwoo tensing against his legs. <em>For the love of god please don’t start screechi-</em></p><p>“That’s none of your fucking business!” Sunwoo screeched.</p><p>“Oh my fuck, how are you not deaf with your screaming yet!” Jae screeched right back, kicking him yet again.</p><p>Brian sighed as he tugged Sunwoo into his lap right when he was about to get up, successfully restraining him again.</p><p>“Why don’t you and Dowoon take this one to Kyun’s room and we’ll deal with this.” He said(ordered) to Wonpil.</p><p>They nodded and took a flailing Sunwoo, the black cat undeterred in his bickering with Jae, not stopping until the door was literally closed in his face. (even then you could still hear him grumbling through the door if you focused a little)</p><p>“Alright then, - “Jae clapped his hands as he sat up. “-ask away.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>SMALL PSA;</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>MY ACCOUNT NAME WILL BE CHANGED TO HWIHWII, SO IF YOU CAN'T FIND MY ACCOUNT OR STORY ANYMORE ON MY OLD NAME DON'T WORRY. I JUST CHANGED IT.</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>YES I KNOW I'M LATE, BUT SCHOOL'S A BITCH AND I PROCASTINATE A LOT.</p><p>I promise i'll get the new update next monday!!</p><p>OH AND A SMALL PSA, I WILL BE CHANGING MY NAME TO HWIHWII BC THE NAME I HAVE NOW WAS MADE UP IN A PANIC</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Secrets Revealed Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“At least tell me pink panther isn’t going to be there.”</p><p>“Fine,”</p><p>He looked up with a relieved smile.</p><p>“Then I won’t say anything.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Jup i'm late again and i apologize with a 4k+ chapter!!</p><p>#BLM</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alright then, - “Jae clapped his hands as he sat up. “-ask away.”</p><p>Youngkyun’s gaze quickly dropped back to his lap, leaning more into Brian. Who in turn put an arm around him and ‘accidentally’ knocked away Youngbin’s hand from his neck. He heard a quiet exhale from behind him before the bear and lion behind him joined the rest of their pack in front of them.</p><p> Right as he was about to start fiddling with his hands again, Jae snatched one of his hands away and held it. (They started to do this after he simply ignored their scolding and started wearing oversized clothing to hide his hands)</p><p>“Okay let’s start easy.” Youngbin began, leaning on the couch behind Chanhee. “Your friend Sunwoo just talked about a ‘them’, who’s ‘them’?”</p><p>Youngkyun couldn’t even hide the way he tensed up. He had to biter back a growl when he tried to tug his hand back as Jae wouldn’t let him, instead giving him a reassuring squeeze.</p><p>“Maybe start a little easier, buddy.” Jae warned him kindly, patting a tense Sungjin on his knee.</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>! I know one! He said he grew up in the wild, how did he end up in a domesticated cat family?”</p><p>He clenched his teeth, making a feeble attempt to stop them from sharpening.</p><p>“Maybe just a tiny bit easier still.”</p><p>Chanhee let out an aggravated sigh. “Who was that guy who chased you in the school and park?” He looked straight at him.</p><p>He let out a quiet sigh in relief, finally a question he could answer.</p><p>“Jack Johnson, he’s a lackey.” It took everything in him to not hiss the words out, instead saying them with a practiced nonchalance. (Yeosang should be proud of him)</p><p>“Lackey? For who?”</p><p>“Bad man.”</p><p>“What bad man?” Inseong asked in confusion as they all seemed to move the tiniest bit closer. (Looking back, he would see that they were worried as hell for him, but in that moment, he was a little preoccupied)</p><p>He could almost tell what the expression was on Jae’s face based off of his long sigh, a mixture of sympathy (he had been in their place before) and resignation due to the fact he would have to dodge their question if Youngkyun didn’t answer. (he would not deal with the aftermath if he didn’t) At least they had someone on their side who kind of wanted to help them, Jae had to figure it out with an defensive Sunwoo to the side who would try to attack him anytime he made his ‘soulmate’ uncomfortable. (They were platonic soulmates, and no one could change their minds, not even <em>Yeosang</em>)</p><p>Chanhee clenched his jaw before taking in a deep breath, slowly letting it out through his nose. “Then how about the first we met at school, when you ran into Taeyang. Why did you run from us?”</p><p>“He tried to cause a pheromone high!”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>“No, I didn’t!”</p><p>He could feel the tension –that was already high enough, thank you- raise a little higher. Brian squeezed him tighter against him and Jae tensed up beside him, he couldn’t see Sungjin in his hunched over position, but he could with a surety of 90% say that he was glaring at Taeyang.</p><p>Youngbin turned to him and gripped the back of his neck, not unlike a mother would to her kit, and squeezed. “Did you or did you not almost accidently cause a pheromone high in school or not?” His normally middle pitched voice changed to a deep rumble, his eyes growing darker. Taeyang tried looking him in the eyes, his animalistic side refusing to submit, but let his gaze drop after a few seconds, his shoulder hunching over the slightest bit.</p><p>“I might- I might’ve lost control when I first smelled him, and might have tried to cause- “</p><p>“<em>Taeyang</em>.”</p><p>“It’s normal where I come from okay!” He growled out angrily before Zuho reached forward and gripped his shoulder. The fight left him at the touch and he simply leaned back against the couch behind him. “I’m sorry, if I had been in control, I wouldn’t have let it happen.” He could feel the wolf’s gaze on him but couldn’t bring himself to look up, instead giving a jerky nod.</p><p>“But that still doesn’t answer why you ran from us.” Chanhee stated.</p><p>“How doesn’t that- “</p><p>Brian spluttered when Chanhee cut him off without looking at him. “It explains why you were mad at us, yes, but it doesn’t explain all the <em>useless</em> running.”</p><p>He bristled and bristled, what the hell do-</p><p>“He doesn’t have to answer shit you fucking assholes!” Sunwoo suddenly screeched from the other room, startling near everyone in the room.</p><p>“Shut the fuck up or I’ll call mom!” Jae screeched right back, bringing a small smile to Youngkyun’s lips. (those two could pretend to hate each other all they wanted, but he was pretty sure that if Sunwoo asked he could move right in with them)</p><p>They heard a loud groan before there was silence and the former tension returned, Chanhee once again resting his gaze on Youngkyun, who mentally cursed at him.</p><p>“Not that I have to answer to you- “He mentally thanked Sunwoo for reminding him of that fact “-but I don’t like being scented, not even Jae is allowed to directly scent me.”</p><p>“Why don’t you like being scented?” Rowoon questioned in anguished confusion. (pretty fair question actually, scenting was a normal part of life for a shifter and could help with bad moods very easily while also feeling good for both parties)</p><p>“Bad man.”  </p><p>“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Rowoon burst out.</p><p>Everyone looked at him wide-eyed.</p><p>“You said you’d answer our questions, but all you do is evade or simply don’t answer or-or give confusing answers!”</p><p>“Maybe that’s because this is a sensitive topic for some people here!” Brian sniped back, tightening the arm around him.</p><p>“Hyung, maybe you should take a deep- “</p><p>“No Chanhee! We deserve some answers after everything that’s happened!”</p><p>“And what <em>has</em> happened then?” Jae questioned, his kind tone from earlier hardened.</p><p>He huddled closer to Brian when he felt the disbelieving stares of the people in front of him. So, maybe he hadn’t told them <em>every </em>bit that has happened between them, sue him!</p><p>“He hasn’t told you?” Dawon questioned, laughing without any real humor.</p><p>“Hasn’t told us what?”</p><p>Brian gave him a reassuring squeeze while Sungjin took over, ignoring their questioning looks too. He really just wanted to go to bed, have a cuddle session with Sunwoo and hope that his budding headache would be gone by the time he woke up.</p><p>“The little shit ran from us every chance he could and didn’t even bother telling us why - we still don’t know the reason by the way – and got us in trouble numerous times already!”</p><p>He curled in on himself as he could feel Jae’s and Brian’s disappointed looks. He may have forgotten to mention ‘got them in trouble’-thing. But to be fair, he thought he would never see them again!</p><p>“Even so- “</p><p>He couldn’t handle this tension anymore, or Chanhee’s searching looks, Juho sending calming pheromones his way, Youngbin’s worried gaze, his brothers worried gaze, he just wanted it all to stop for a second so he could calmly look at the facts and make the right decisions. He just averted one crisis for Christ sake! Couldn’t he just catch a small break? It was just too much at once and his head felt like it could explode if he stayed in this room a moment longer.</p><p>“Excuse me.” He gasped out.</p><p>He quickly stood up, ignoring the people calling his name and hurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. (he would’ve gone to his bedroom, but it occupied at the moment and he just wanted a moment to himself)</p><p>He took a shaky breath as he leaned on the sink, turning on the tab and holding his hands under the stream of cold water, throwing it in his face. He repeated this for a couple of times until he felt like he could breathe again.</p><p>He took a deep breath as he looked up into the mirror, cringing at the baby duck shower curtain. Dowoon once saw it and fell in love with the damn thing and begged Younghyun to buy it for him, and Younghyun was a weak, weak man when it came to Dowoon.</p><p>He cringed again when he finally looked at himself, he looked like he would keel over any second now. His normally tan skin had taken on a pale hue and the mischievous glint in his eyes was muted. ‘No surprise Youngbin felt the need to comfort me.’ He thought while touching the area beneath his eyes briefly. ‘I look like a small burst of wind could blow me right over.’</p><p>He closed his eyes and focused on his hearing, not surprised he could still hear them arguing in the living room. Brian trying to get Sungjin to kick them out while Jae reminded him it was <em>his</em> apartment. Chanhee had finally fallen silent and an either oblivious or having no regard for his life Dawon kept badgering Jae for answers.</p><p>A small smile crossed his lips as he focused his hearing elsewhere, (he didn’t even realize how much he missed doing this) he could hear Sunwoo grumbling to Wonpil and Dowoon, who simply hummed each time his rant fell silent for a short moment. That grumpy cat was never satisfied.</p><p>He opened his eyes again and stared at his reflection. He knew by now that they wouldn’t leave without getting some serious answers, and while he may not be able to talk about <em>that </em>with them yet, he may have another way of answering one question of theirs at least.</p><p>He clenched his hands briefly before bringing them up to his head, slowly taking off his beanie. He scrunched his nose when he shook his hair out, he really needed a shower.</p><p>The corners of his lips twitched up when his ears still felt as soft as when he last felt them. It <em>had </em>been a long time that he let them out like this, he realized in muted shock, pulling his bangs back in a messy bun. Even though his brothers always tried to tell when their friends came over, the poor idiots were also very forgetful, so he just started wearing his beanies and caps indoors too.</p><p>He took in a deep breath and nodded at himself determinedly, taking off his hoodie and pulled his t-shirt out of his pants, letting his tail swish freely behind him. His whole body relaxed as he shook his tail out, letting out the quietest sigh of contentment as he felt his spine relax. Appears he would need to let his tail out more often; his body was even more tense than he anticipated.</p><p>He bundled his hoodie up and threw it in the laundry bin, quickly walking over to the door before he lost his nerve.</p><p>He tip toed over towards the living room, only poking his head out to see if anyone heard him coming. He raised his brow and pursed his lips at the sight in front of him.</p><p>Dawon had crawled on top of the table, getting insistently closer while never stopping his verbal stream of never-ending questions. Jae looked slightly overwhelmed as he kept pushing a very agitated Brian back in his seat, who kept leaning over him to talk to Sungjin. Rowoon had taken a seat on the couch right behind Taeyang, whispering what seemed to be reassurances in his ears as he hugged his knees with one arm. Sungjin was steadily ignoring the ruckus and seemed to be lost in thought, patting the back of poor Jae’s neck when he had to start pushing away Dawon too. Youngbin was pacing behind the couch and looked up immediately when he poked his head out, his mouth already opening in what was probably going to be yet another apology, when he stopped short.</p><p>He looked with wide eyes at his ears and the tail swishing anxiously behind him. “Are you sure?” He mouthed, worry shining very clearly in his brown eyes.</p><p>He allowed his tail one last swish before he nodded back, steeling himself. Youngbin gave him one last appraising look before he seemed to find what he was looking for and nodded, the smallest smile pulling at his lips.</p><p>“Hey Youngkyun.”</p><p>Such a simple greeting, but almost everyone almost broke their necks turning around when he said it.</p><p>“About fucking time Kyun, I know you like your dramatics but com- “Chanhee complained as he turned at a much slower pace, stopping short when he noticed the absence of two pieces of clothing.</p><p>“That actually explains a lot.” Inseong said softly, unknowingly echoing Youngbin’s words.</p><p>He almost didn’t notice his brothers slipping away to his bedroom, Sungjin and Jae having to combine their strength to get Brian to come quietly.</p><p>He gulped and simply nodded and kept his gaze averted, wrapping his arms around his waist in the feeble attempt to keep himself together. It never got easier, revealing himself.</p><p>He let out a startled sound when a familiar hand pushed his head onto a pair of shoulders, the smell of peaches surrounding him.</p><p>“Calm down Youngkyunnie, you don’t have to be afraid of us.” He murmured in his ear with an exasperated tone, leaning with his chin on his temple instead of going for his shoulder. He let himself relax the slightest bit at that. (they actually knew how to listen, what a nice discovery)</p><p>He startled when he felt a hand touch his back, letting out a warning hiss but not removing his head from Youngbin’s shoulder. (He had comfortable shoulders alright!)</p><p>“Sorry!” Jaeyoon almost immediately shouted, moving a few paces back and bumping into Zuho who simply wrapped his arms around him. Whether it was to keep him there or comfort him was still up for debate.</p><p>“It’s fine, I just don’t like people touching my back.” His words were slightly muffled, he let a small amused smile creep onto his face when he felt two pair of arms encircle his legs.</p><p>“Now you can’t run away from our comfort!” Dawon crooned, his usually loud voice a whole lot softer now. If Youngkyun didn’t know any better, he would say he sounded fond. (That’s because he is- Shut it brain) Chanhee let out a small sound of agreement, sitting right next to the hyena.</p><p>“How old were you when the massacre happened?” Inseong questioned innocently. He shrank back when there were next to immediately multiple growls directed at him.</p><p>He let out the smallest chuckle. “I had just turned seven, they attacked right after my birthday meal.”</p><p>He buried his head further into Youngbin’s shoulder, focusing om the soothing touches on the back of neck. He felt Chanhee’s arms tighten arounds his knees and freed one hand from the tight grip around his waist, letting it fall onto his head. He let out a fond huff when he immediately leaned into it.</p><p>“And one of those monsters got your, back didn’t they?” He stiffened at Taeyang’s voice directly next to his ear.</p><p>He could feel Youngbin’s other hand coming up to hit the back of Taeyang’s head. He freed his other arm and used his hand to stop him, wrapping his (smaller) hand around the bears.</p><p>He turned his head side-ways, peaking at Taeyang. The normally shy wolf (yes, he was quite shy and awkward when he wasn’t chasing you or losing control) was looking him straight in the eyes, a feat he normally couldn’t do without blushing. He quirked up an eyebrow in interest when he seemed to be having an internal battle of sorts and widened his eyes when he suddenly moved closer.</p><p>He leaned his forehead to Youngkyun’s temple, one of his hands twisting itself up in his hair, dangerously close to his cat ears. He ignored the hissed ‘Taeyang’ and stepped even closer, the scent of the forest engulfing him.</p><p>“As long as you’re with us, no harm will befall you. We will protect for as long as you will have us, and even after that.”</p><p>It was death silent in the room after Taeyang’s rather abrupt words. Youngkyun chocked slightly as he a faint memory hit him.</p><p>
  <em>“You only say these words when you meet your future mate Hwiyoungie, so listen well.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘As long as I’m with you, no harm will befall you. I will protect you till my last dying breath and beyond. We are one.’.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But that’s so <strong>long </strong>mamma! How will I ever remember that!?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You better do Hwi, I got it wrong and your mother wouldn’t even look at me for a week!”</em>
</p><p>“You said it wrong.” He retorted, feeling a frown coming up.</p><p>Taeyang widened his eyes as panic spread onto his face.</p><p>“He said it that way because you’re not ready to complete it yet. When you are, we will <em>all</em> say it right.” Rowoon spoke up, a gentle smile on his face as Youngkyun sneaked a look at him over Youngbin’s shoulder.</p><p>He hid his face in Youngbin’s shoulder again and let himself smile; he could at least enjoy this moment a little bit longer before a certain someone would realize he was alone with them.</p><p>“Soo- “</p><p>He sighed when he heard a door slam open, breaking the peaceful silence that surrounded them.</p><p>“<em>No, no. </em>Get away from him you fuckers!” He shouted as he ‘accidently’ kicked Chanhee and roughly pulled him away from their hold. “Kyun what the fuck? We’re supposed to be the stubborn idiots, this thing doesn’t work if you go and soften up towards those fuckers! We <em>already</em> lost Yeosang!” Sunwoo complained as he tugged him towards his bedroom. The pack in front of him just looked in muted shock before Chanhee recovered.</p><p>“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you-you overgrown rat!” Chanhee growled out, standing up in indignation. They finally had a willing Youngkyun right there in their arms and then that asshole had to show up.</p><p>Youngkyun pulled his lips to stop himself from laughing, wrapping his arms around Sunwoo’s waist from behind when he felt him freeze.</p><p>“What the fuck did you say fuckwipe?”</p><p>“Is that the only word in your vocabulary, ‘fuck’?</p><p>Sunwoo bristled angrily, about to open his mouth when Youngkyun covered it. (he may be good with words, but Sunwoo could rip <em>anyone </em>into verbal shreds)</p><p>“Let them have at least one win Sun, don’t you think they deserve at least that?” He whispered in his ear, intertwining their tails. Sunwoo let out an angry sigh but stayed silent, leaning backwards into him.</p><p>(Youngkyun was about 99% sure the only reason he conceded was because even Zuho was having trouble keeping his jealous glare under control)</p><p>~</p><p>“No, nope, not happening.” Sunwoo snapped while pulling on his shirt, the both of them getting ready for school.</p><p>“Sun, for the love of god, can you please hear me out before you shut me down?”</p><p>He let out a loud groan but didn’t otherwise comment, making Youngkyun let out a ‘whoop’ in his head.</p><p>“They just asked me if they could walk me to school, - “He ignored his annoyed hiss. “-come on Sun! They just wanna make sure nothing happens on the way!”</p><p>Sunwoo huffed and muttered, “Yeah and it’s not like we live in the safest city known to our kind.”</p><p>“<em>Sunwoo.</em>”</p><p>“And why do they even need to come if I’m there?! We can protect ourselves better if those clumsy idiots <em>aren’t </em>there and you know it!” He spat out, throwing his textbooks in his backpack.</p><p>He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he was right but not wanting to give in. He wasn’t called stubborn for nothing.</p><p>“But I already said yes, don’t make me be an asshole just because you don’t like them!”</p><p>“Like you have ever cared about whether you’re an asshole or not!”</p><p>“Excu- “</p><p>“The both of you shut up before I call mom and get her to <em>make </em>you shut up!” Jae shouted while he pounded on the door.</p><p>Sunwoo let out a loud hiss but otherwise didn’t react, zipping up his bag in an annoyed fashion.</p><p>He sucked in his lips as he stood up, putting his hands on his shoulders and moving his fingers in soothing circles just below his neck. (Felix taught him a thing or two when he visited Hyunjin last time)</p><p>“You <em>know </em>they aren’t as bad as you think they are.” He stated.</p><p>Sunwoo didn’t answer, slowly relaxing under his hands.</p><p>“And I <em>know </em>for a fact that you didn’t nearly give Yeosang’s mates as hard as a time as you’re giving mine.” He drawled.</p><p>“Not true, you and Sangie just weren’t around for the worst of it.” He sighed out, the tiniest smirk on his face.</p><p>He let out a short laugh, taking his hands back and reaching for his backpack. He ignored Sunwoo’s whine with a shake of his head, an amused grin on his face.</p><p>“Can you promise me you will at least <em>try </em>to act civil, for my sake?”</p><p>He made a big show of groaning, throwing his head back as he swung his backpack over his right shoulder.</p><p>“At least tell me pink panther isn’t going to be there.”</p><p>“Fine,”</p><p>He looked up with a relieved smile.</p><p>“Then I won’t say anything.”</p><p>Sunwoo groaned even louder, letting himself fall back on the bed.</p><p>~</p><p>To say that the walk to school was eventful would have been an understatement.</p><p>It actually started out peaceful, weird enough, but Youngkyun would take any small blessings as they came. And that’s also what it turned out to be, a <em>small </em>blessing.</p><p>They were only five minutes away from school, five minutes away from when they had to part ways and never do this again, when he tried to cross the street.  </p><p>Don’t get him wrong, he jaywalks all the time, and normally he listens if he hears anything coming, but keeping the pink panther and the grump cat away from ripping each-other to shreds just took a lot of effort.</p><p>“Chanhee come one! You are supposed to be the adult here!”</p><p>“Why <em>me</em>?! I’m pretty sure he’s older than me anyway!”</p><p>“He’s younger.”</p><p>“Wait what?!”</p><p>“<em>Haha </em>you’re a fucking grandpa compared to me!” Sunwoo gloated happily, hanging of Youngkyun’s shoulder.</p><p>Youngkyun send a ‘for god’s sake, just lend me a hand’-look towards Juho, who simply chuckled and kept walking a few steps behind the mess.</p><p>“Hey, <em>Hey</em>! I’m not a grandpa you little rat!”</p><p>“I still <em>have </em>my hearing, I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop trying to ruin it <em>pick panther</em>.”</p><p>“I’m not going fucking de- <em>what did you just call me!”</em></p><p>Youngkyun faked a cough, unable to hide his laugh.</p><p>He shook Sunwoo off and started walking backwards, holding his hands out placatingly. He also made a mental note to buy some chocolates for Yeosang and Sungjin later, being a mediator was really fucking hard.</p><p>“Chanhee you’re not going deaf, stop freaking out over nothing. And stop calling my best friend an overgrown rat, <em>please and thank you.</em>” He turned to Sunwoo, who tried to use his kitty eyes. (he <em>invented </em>the kitty eyes! come on Sun!) “And <em>you</em>, stop trying to pick a fight with bigger predators, just because you won a few times doesn’t mean you’ll always win!”</p><p>“Why don’t you call <em>him</em> out for his name-calling!”</p><p>“Because it was genius and it made me laugh.”</p><p>“<em>Ha!”</em></p><p>“I demand another jur- <em>Fuck Kyun look out!”</em></p><p>His ears stood upright as he heard squeaking tires - which he swore were just coming around the corner a second ago – he immediately tried to will his legs to move forward, he saw Sunwoo reaching out for him while Juho started running. Those few steps he walked behind them would prove to be fatal. He closed his eyes and made himself as small as possible as he jumped, but when his legs finally left the asphalt, he already knew he was too late. He may have reacted quick enough that he won’t get fully hit, but the car was going to fast for being this close to a school. He hunched his shoulders and got ready to take the hit-</p><p>“How is it, then when we find you, you’re always somehow in trouble?” A silky voice murmured, a little too close for comfort. The car rode by honking, disappearing around the corner.</p><p>Juho pushed the shell-shocked Tom and Jerry out of the way and gripped his hand. “Youngkyun! Are you okay, you didn’t get hit or anything?!” His other hand rested on his cheek, moving his face a little upwards to check if he had no injuries. (and hello number four! And he didn’t even fall on his face, why the fuck was he looking <em>there </em>for injuries)</p><p>“He’s just fine tiger, my mate got here just in time to pull him out of the way!” Boo Seungkwan grinned, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.</p><p>“I can’t thank you enough, uhm…”</p><p>“Yoon Jeonghan, at your service.” He smiled angelically, leaning his elbow on his other shoulder.</p><p>While Juho, later joined by Chanhee and begrudgingly Sunwoo, started thanking him and apologizing. Jeonghan took it all in stride (of course when the story later was retold the tiny car would become a huge pick up truck and the other three were all the way down the street, but that was not the point)</p><p>He leaned his head towards Seungkwan when he felt a small pinch, gesturing he was listening.</p><p>“<em>Okay you’ve gotta come with us right now.</em>”</p><p>“<em>I would like a little more info, last time I said yes my hair was pink for a week and I still have the scar.</em>”</p><p>“<em>It’s a code Unicorn.</em>”</p><p>“Jeonghan-hyung, however nice it is of you to stand here and listen to them stutter, didn’t we have a thing?” Youngkyun drawled.</p><p>“You’re completely right Kyunnie! Well, it has been fun, but is seems our time is finished. See you guys around!”</p><p>The three of them turned around quickly (looking both ways) and crossed the street, heading for their usual study room.</p><p>“How did a code Unicorn happen, and who is it about.” Youngkyun murmured, opening the door and not surprised to find Yeosang and Lee Minho already sitting there.</p><p>“We think it has something to do with the <em>human</em> who was here last time.” Minho said, not looking up from his phone.</p><p>“And this time’s the code is about you Kyun.” Yeosang pointed out while giving him a sympathizing look.</p><p>His eyes popped open as he stared at the four sympathetic shifters.(Minho even putting his phone away to give him their full attention) Every single one of them had had a code Unicorn at least once in their university years, Boo Seungkwan at the top.</p><p>“I don’t get it, why is this a code Unicorn? Security put a picture of him everywhere and we made sure I was never mentioned.”</p><p>Jeonghan winced. “Let’s just say we called this little meeting to stop this little thing from <em>becoming</em> a code Unicorn.”</p><p>“What little thing?”</p><p>He was silent as he rummaged through his backpack for a moment and pulled out a folded paper, silently handing it to him.</p><p>He took it with a raised eyebrow, he knew the rumor mill members were all dramatic in their own way, but they were looking at him like he was going to die tomorrow and there was nothing they could do about it.</p><p>He shook his shoulders out, trying to shake off the sudden nerves coming to live within him, and unfolded the paper.</p><p>Oh</p><p>
  <em>Oh  </em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So what was on the paper? what did you guys think of the reveal?</p><p>(Comments give me life btw)</p><p>#BLM</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Not an update (sorry) (please read)</h2></a>
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    <p>So I haven't been staying true to my updating schedual as much as i'd liked but school has been swamping me with work. I have to do a lot of test and exams and i'll be able to update after all of that, so give another 2/3 weeks and i'll be back to my usual schedual and you guys won't have to wait as long to read another update.</p>
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<p>And for the people still reading this a huge thank you, I honestly love you guys and your comments give me life and inspiration to continue this story. i'm sorry that i haven't been able to give you guys much content but as i have said, i'll be back to my normal after 2 to 3 weeks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>i'll try to put out another update the coming week, but i'm making no promises.</p>
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<p>Thanks for reading and i hope you have enjoyed the story this far!</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. authorsnote (I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS FIC)</h2></a>
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    <p>Soo, it's been awhile huh. For the people still reading this <strike>if anyone still is that is</strike></p><p> </p><p>I was actually thinking of rewriting this book, as i feel like my writing style has bettered and i was too hasty with some chapters because of a self imposed deadline. Comment which scenes you like the most and i'll try to keep it in the story.</p><p> </p><p>Don't worry, the plot and storyline is gonna be the same, just with better writing XD.</p><p> </p><p>And instead of all the relationships inside SF9 being strictly romantic, they will have no label, they all love each other but i feel that in a pack love doesn't really need a label. i will still fit as many cute moments into this book as i can, don't worry about that.</p><p> </p><p>Well, that was me saying that i'm still alive and haven't abandoned this fic yet!</p><p> </p><p>-Pixie</p>
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